How Fornax Changed My Life
by kiwibliss
Summary: Shepard comes to grips with the realities of a romantic relationship with a member of her team. Fornax serves double duty as a relationship aid, though not always in the obvious sense.
1. Fornax is the hanar version of People

"Is this some type of hanar specific magazine? Like People, but for hanar, that is." Shepard asked. They'd been browsing the stalls when she'd come across the magazine, eyeing it curiously and flipping it over to flash him the cover, which displayed a female hanar lounging suggestively on a dais.

Garrus had no idea what People might be, but he had to choke back his laughter when he saw the title of the periodical. "Well, not exactly, Shepard. Fornax is a little more… suggestive than that."

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Hanar porn? I didn't think that hanar were into that sort of thing. "

Garrus was having a hard time wiping the smirk off of his face, but Miranda's glare did a good job of pushing him along. "It's xeno porn, Shepard. Not just hanar, but also nearly every other species you can think of. And no… " Miranda returned her glare to Garrus, who had just flexed his mandibles as if to speak. "I do **not** have a subscription. Working with a crew comprised mostly of men gets you exposed to all sorts of things that you wish you never knew."

Shepard was scrutinizing the cover as if trying to unravel the mysteries of the Protheans. "So, this is supposed to be a sexy pose for a hanar?" She tossed it back down on the counter and grinned at Garrus and Miranda. "Guess it has a devoted readership, considering that this is issued 145500."

Garrus lingered behind for a moment as Shepard moved on, heading to the biotic amps seller across the way with Miranda in tow. He picked up a new scope for his sniper rifle, along with a few other small things. "Have this delivered to the Normandy. All of these go to the main battery, and this goes here." Garrus scribbled quick note on the last item, handing it to the stall owner. The batarian nodded, clicking his fingers at the vorcha in the far back.

~*~

After undocking, Shepard sat at her desk to pour over the new dossiers as they headed to Ilium. They had two potentials there, as well as Miranda's personal favor, so it made sense in the long run. The markets on Ilium would also have some fancy new upgrades, which was excellent considering the fact that she'd wiped out the stock on Omega and the Citadel. She was pouring every last resource into outfitting them as well as she could before their final run.

Thane Krios was the last dossier she read, her eyes bleary from hours of studying pictures and reading detailed psych evaluations. She took her datapad down to the mess with her to get some coffee, studying the pictures particularly carefully. She'd had exactly no exposure to drell in her time in the Alliance, though she knew of them. Their population was still small and it seemed that most rarely left Kahje; those that did leave tended to stay to themselves. Thane was no exception to this rule, having worked alone his entire career. He was striking to look at, his appearance the perfect cross between reptilian and humanoid, though definitely more to the humanoid side. He was a lovely shade of light green with some truly striking black striping on his head ridges. In every photo he was standing perfectly straight, never slouching, which added an air of vigilance to him. His features were refined, topped off with a set of lips that most women (and probably men) would kill for.

She'd known two assassins personally in her life. One had been human, the other turian. Both had been assholes; cocksure and overconfident of their abilities. This did not bode well for Ser Krios, especially given the little his dossier had to say on his personal life. Cerberus had provided her with ten plus page reports on every other crewmate; Thane's was two pages of notes and four photographs taken in the past six months. He was a wildcard on a mission that was already a gigantic question mark in her mind.

Kelly was sitting at the large table, datapad in front of her and coffee in hand. She tipped her cup at Shepard and smiled "This is the first cup from a freshly brewed pot. I figured someone else would be up and about, even at this hour." Shepard grabbed a mug from the shelf under the coffee station and filled it to the brim with coffee, a liberal dose of creamer and eight spoons of sugar. She liked her coffee a little sweet. She sat across from Kelly, who glanced at the pad in her hands. "Which dossier? Joker said we were headed to Ilium, so that narrows it to two possibilities." She studied Shepard carefully for a few moments. "Krios?" She hazarded, smirking a bit as Shepard's eyes widened.

"Am I that easy to read?"

Chuckling, Kelly leaned back in her chair and flipped the datapad around to show the picture she'd been examining. It was the shot of Thane, speaking with an asari in what looked to be a transport area. "It's exactly who I'd look for first. The drell are fascinating, really. No one knows that much about them. Unless you travel to Kahje, you're unlikely to run into one on the street." Yeoman Chambers glanced at the picture again, twitching the corner of her lips. "He's really quite pretty too. Exotic looking. I've seen pictures of drell in Fornax. They're quite… impressive." The Yeoman was sporting a rather wicked grin now.

"I tripped across a Fornax on Omega earlier today. Didn't thumb through it though. Are you a regular reader?" Shepard's curiosity was piqued now. She'd just found out about the xeno sex magazine today; she couldn't believe that she was one of the few people in the galaxy who'd never read the damned thing.

Maybe it was her imagination, but it seemed that Kelly was turning a little pinkish as she stared down at the pictures before her. "I indulge occasionally. I have an interest in alien psychology and they have a site on the extranet."

"Get her to tell you about drell anatomy. Specifically their lower anatomy." Jack announced her presence in the mess in her usual abrupt manner, slouching in a chair at the end of the long table with an impish grin on her face. "We are talking about drell, aren't we?"

Kelly rolled her eyes. "We were talking about Fornax, Jack. Not any particular species."

"But you started the discussion with the assassin, who happens to be a fucking drell." Jack glared at Kelly. "Besides, you look like the sort of girly-girl who'd love those big, soulful eyes." She jumped up from the chair and headed to the fridge, sticking her head in and rooting around as she spoke. "Also, Fornax is alien porn and I know for sure that they've done several page spreads on drell, especially the guys. Women love that shit."

Shepard put her datapad down, now well and truly interested; though she half suspected that she'd regret her pursuit of the conversation in short order. "So, what exactly is so special about drell males? I thought that they were your standard humanoid variants, with the obvious reptilian overtones."

Jack pulled out a plastic container, opened it and gave it some serious consideration. It met her approval obviously as she grabbed spoon from the counter and popped it in the nuker. "You've been hanging around the salarian too much." She pointed the spoon at Shepard and grabbed a mug and some coffee.

Kelly spoke hesitantly. "Well, the drell that they've featured are all very sculpted. They have nicely defined musculature as a rule. I think that they have thicker muscle fibers than humans, not that Fornax goes into that kind of detail." The Yeoman was addressing everything to Shepard, studiously avoiding the tattooed menace lurking by the microwave.

Several loud beeps heralded the preparation of Jack's midnight meal. She carried the container over to the same end seat and shoveled a spoonful of soup into her mouth. "Yeah, drell are built all right. But that's not what interests the ladies most. And some men, I guess." After another spoonful, she gave Kelly a sidelong glance and shook her head. "Since the secretary isn't going to share, I guess I'll have to give you the goods."

"Really, Jack." Kelly sighed, but Jack just waved a dismissive hand at her.

"Drell guys are known for the size and shape of their package. I guess the fact that fucking them is like getting high also has its appeal." Jack noticed Shepard's skeptical look. "Look, I'm speaking from direct experience here. You think that I haven't managed to bone at least one drell in my time?"

_She has a point there_, Shepard thought. "Okay, I'll play. What is so unique about it?" Once again, she wondered why she was sitting here having this conversation. Chalking it up to lack of sleep and her never-ending schedule, she sipped her coffee and fixed Jack with a pointed stare.

Jack laughed. "Shepard, I didn't think you had it in you. This might even get me to like you a little." She tipped the plastic container into her mouth and gulped the remainder of the soup. "They have huge dicks; bigger than most human guys, anyway. They're ridged too. Soft, skin ridges, so they have a little give. You do know what a g spot is Shepard, don't you?"

To her credit, Shepard didn't blush or miss a beat. Being in the military for over a decade made you hard to embarrass. "I do. So, these ridges are perfectly designed to hit that spot then, is that what you're saying?" Jack was grinning broadly at her now and Shepard thought that she might prefer the woman's scowl to that.

"Drax was my favorite fuck buddy. I actually kind of liked him." Jack sprang out of her seat and headed towards the elevator, calling over her shoulder as she left. "Too much girl talk for one evening. I'm outta here."

_Of course she left her mess on the table_. Shepard heaved a sigh and gathered the plastic container and utensil to throw into the automated washer. She refilled her coffee cup and then turned to face Kelly. "Okay Chambers, so here's the deal. I know that he's attractive and that they have this, reputation, among xenophiles, but we need to concentrate on the mission. I don't care if he's the most charming bastard to grace the galaxy; just don't let it interfere with your work." She looked at Kelly's face and softened a bit. "Oh, you know what I mean, Kelly. I know that we all need to blow off some steam in a high stress environment like this. We're not in the military and I'm not going to impose any rules about fraternization here. As long as everyone can stay focused, anything goes."

Kelly was grinning now. "Commander, it might be in your best interest to follow your own advice on this, you know. I've heard rumors that Engineer Donnelly has a wicked crush on you."

Shaking her head and laughing, Shepard picked up her datapad and headed towards the elevator. "I don't need a matchmaker, Yeoman Chambers. Stick to your duties as assigned." The funny thing was that she had thought of Donnelly; he was attractive, after all, and he'd defended her honor in front of Alliance brass, which was more than flattering. His accent was cute and she'd had several fantasies about how he would sound whispering absolutely tantalizing things in her ear. But Donnelly was a good engineer and a good man; he deserved more than just a friendship with benefits. She wasn't sure that she had more to offer anyone at this point. It had been years since she'd had a real, adult relationship with someone, before the galaxy went to hell in a hand basket.

She stopped by the fish tank on her way to her desk, tapping the feeding button and counting each fish carefully, as was her habit before bed. There had been no untimely deaths for going on fifteen days now, which was a personal record for her. The crew had banded together a month ago and gotten her a plaque reading "Fish – 0 Shepard – 23" in the Zakera Ward. Shepard took the plaque with a jovial smile, but she misted up a bit after bringing it back to her cabin. Of all the things that she'd killed in her near decade and a half of slaughter, the fish were her biggest regret. From there she'd vowed to keep the little buggers alive at all costs.

Dropping the datapad on her desk, she popped down the stairs into her closet, slipping the formal Cerberus uniform into the clothing bin at the bottom and putting cotton pants and a t-shirt. The uniform would magically appear in her closet, washed and ironed, by the next morning. She wasn't sure exactly how that happened, but she suspected that the Normandy had a crew of miniaturized keepers who worked on those sorts of things. Taking up her normal spot in the middle of the bed, she reached onto her end table for the book that she was reading; A Volus's Guide to Galactic Economy was sure to put her out nearly instantly.

What she held in her hand, upon closer examination, was a holo of a very naked volus, holding what appeared to be a tea towel over what were presumably his naughty bits. The surprised look of "Oh, you caught me just after stepping out of the shower!" would surely haunt her dreams for the next several weeks. "What the hell?" she exclaimed, flipping the magazine closed and examining the alluringly posed hanar on the front cover. Fornax. Garrus had bought her a copy of goddamned Fornax on Omega. "Garrus, you asshole."


	2. Thane in Vain

She didn't sleep well that night, waking every few hours and staring at the magazine on the end table near her. Natural curiosity was fine, but she really didn't need to know what the alien members of the crew looked like in the buff, especially Grunt. After six hours of tossing and turning she officially gave up, pulling a clean and pressed uniform from her closet and heading down to the mess to mainline coffee until her brain started functioning. The Fornax came with her, stuffed into a small gear bag that contained her omni-tool; if she tripped across Garrus she was going to make him eat it for breakfast, turian diets be damned.

The mess was largely deserted that early in the day, with the exception of Gardner, who apparently never left his station. Shepard was gearing up to go over and talk to him about getting some down time now and then when Garrus shuffled sleepily in. He was obviously on autopilot as he walked straight past her and over to the dextro-amino coffee stand, filling what looked to be a soup tureen full and leaning against the counter to sip it. She glared at him, fishing through her gear bag with one hand and locating the magazine. Flipping to page 42, which was surely burned into her mind at this point, she tossed it on the counter in front of him. "Here Garrus, have a gander at what I dreamed about all last night. When I could sleep, that is."

Garrus glanced down at it, and then backed up rapidly, nearly spilling the tureen. "Shepard, what… gah!" He placed the coffee on the island counter behind them and stared at her. "Was that a naked volus?" His small eyes closed, as if trying to unsee what he'd just seen.

"Yes, it most definitely was a naked volus. It also happened to appear in place of the book that I _was_ reading to bore me to sleep every night."

He had the nerve to look sheepish and her ire started flagging. It just wasn't in her to stay mad at a friend, especially an old one like Garrus. "Look, Shepard. I bought it as a joke. I thought you'd have a good laugh about it and then we could pass it around at mission briefings."

All right, so she was officially over being mad at him. The mission briefings were getting pretty hairy lately, what with Jack and Miranda at each other's throats and Grunt ready to kroganate at the slightest change in air quality. EDI popped into view near the microwave, a circle of efficient blue lines wavering politely in her peripheral vision. "Shepard, ETA fifteen minutes to the Nos Astra docking station."

"Thanks EDI. Wake my wonderful crew from their beauty sleep and have them meet me in the briefing room in thirty minutes."

"Logging you off, Shepard." As always, Shepard wondered when, exactly, she'd logged on. It was probably just some AI figure of speech, but it bothered her nonetheless. She wrote it on her mental list of questions to ask someday and moved on.

Garrus was looking at her, his mandibles flexing in a way that she recognized as his unsure expression. "Should I gear up, Shepard? Or am I condemned to spend the rest of my day locked in the main battery with this holo plastered all over the walls?" He winced as he said this.

"I'm not mad at you anymore, Garrus, but don't think that this entitles you to sign me up for a subscription or anything." She pointed at him in what she hoped was a menacing manner. "Don't bother to gear up though. If you go planet side today it will be strictly for pleasure. I'm taking Grunt and Mordin with me this time." Reaching into the cabinet beside the coffee maker, she poured herself a bit of coffee, adding a liberal amount of sugar and cream.

"Grunt? Really, Shepard?" Garrus had picked up his tureen again and was draining it at an alarming rate. "Isn't he a bit much on a mission requiring any stealth?"

She took several tentative sips of the piping hot beverage, enjoying the rush as the sugar and caffeine made their way into her bloodstream. "Grunt has been tearing up the port cargo for a few days. He needs to get out and kill something or I'm afraid that he'll breach the hull and space us all." More coffee made its way into her mouth, invigorating her tired limbs. "I have to find some way to sate him until we can get him to Tuchanka."

Garrus nodded in understanding. He was pragmatic, never taking her decisions personally, which she loved about him. Once again she thought about how grateful she was to have another member of the old crew onboard. "Understood, Shepard. I have some personal things that I can take care of while we're there."

He hadn't been very forthcoming about the events on Omega, alluding to the fact that his former teammate had betrayed them but stopping short of any real information. It had been two years and he'd led his own team and lost them in that time; she knew firsthand what that was like, so she gave him space. Garrus would come to her on his own terms. "I'll keep comm. channel three open in case anything comes up." Garrus gave her a nod and turned back towards the main battery, chucking the Fornax at her on his way.

Nos Astra was quite lovely for a city that embraced the slave trade. Oh, they dressed it up in finery and called it "indentured servitude," but that didn't change its basic nature as far as Shepard was concerned. She knew she was touchy about the subject, but having your family and colony wiped out by batarian slavers tended to make you view such things with less than rose tinted glasses. Any system that preyed on the desperate and down on their luck was highly suspect, even if it was regulated with densely written legal contracts that she was strongly advised not to sign.

Conversely, she'd been glad to hear that Liara T'Soni had a permanent office there, though it was rather curious for her to be entrenched in a place so far from any known Prothean planets. She found out fairly early into her visit with her that Liara was no longer the intelligent but slightly bumbling researcher that she remembered from two years ago. Her new incarnation had a fire in her eyes and a grimness that came from delving too deep into the darker spaces in the galaxy; the kind of spaces that she'd crawled through chasing the Shadow Broker. While Shepard was happy to see that she'd come into her own, she was hesitant to encourage such a pursuit. The Illusive Man had been trying for years to ferret out the Shadow Broker, and if a man with his resources hadn't succeeded then it wasn't looking good for her friend.

Liara listened quite patiently as Shepard tried to talk her around, but it had little to no effect. The asari was committed to her course and there was nothing to be done to dissuade her. The meeting was ultimately better than her confrontation with Ash, but it left her feeling helpless. She was used to people depending on her, to going out of her way for strangers and friends alike, but Liara wasn't having any of that. She, Mordin and Grunt were supplied with information on Thane and then sent on their way.

Mordin shook his head as they descended the stairs. "Your friend is obsessed. Won't listen. Shadow Broker very dangerous. Shame." He glanced back at the shut door. "Seems nice. Was sweet, yes?"

Shepard eyed him curiously. "Do you think she's pretty, Mordin?" Grunt snorted loudly at this and Mordin shot him a glare.

"Observations, Shepard. Am a scientist. Scientists look. Listen. Catalog data." He waved his hand dismissively, but she could have sworn that she saw a tinge of color in his face.

She dropped it though; it wouldn't do to have pissed off teammates watching your back in a hairy situation. Her mood had lightened a little by the time that they reached Seryna, Thane's asari contact. It was positively bolstered by the news that Thane's target was none other than Nassana Dantius. Shepard remembered Nassana, mostly because she kept a mental list of every truly evil bastard that she met. If anyone deserved to have a hit put on her, it was Nassana Dantius.

Hours later, after slogging through floors full of mercs, damn it how she hated mercs, and closets full of frightened salarian workers, she was about ready to finish Nassana off herself. The salarians bothered her especially; they were innocent and their deaths served no purpose. Nassana could just as easily have dismissed them all early.

To calm herself, she concentrated on Thane. He was _her_ target, her reason for being in this hellish place. By all accounts she liked him already. The first closet full of confused workers had touched her; by the fifth closet the drell had turned her notions of assassins firmly upside down. There was no worldly reason for him to go out of his way to save the salarians; in fact, it would have been far easier for him to let the mercs dispose of them so that he could carry on his way to his objective. He had quite deliberately stopped to save them, sometimes from imminent death according to the eyewitness accounts.

By the time that they reached the top of the second tower, after crossing tiny scaffolding in high winds and heavy fire, she was done. Nassana was a crazy, paranoid, ranting bitch and Shepard couldn't listen to her or she would shoot her right between the eyes. She threw out what she hoped were appropriate responses occasionally, like "Yeah" and "No" and "Your mom", but her senses were concentrated on locating the assassin. Would he appear suddenly from the narrow patch of shadows lining the southeast wall of the room? Was he already among them, disguised as the helmeted merc to her left; or even better, disguised as the human merc to her right? When she heard a rattling in the vents above them she knew, and she smiled. _Clever, clever drell._ She'd heard the comm. chatter from the mercs about the vents, but she'd been far too busy playing peek-a-boo with Nassana's heavies to pay it much attention.

She saw rather than heard him as he dropped from the vent and cleanly snapped the neck of the human in the back. He moved swiftly among the remainders, stepping from one to the next like he was performing a particularly lethal waltz, each movement graceful and precise, with no wasted effort. There were three hits, one for each of the remaining bodyguards and one shot, reserved for Nassana herself and performed with far more flair than she deserved.

Shepard had no idea what she said to him after all of this. He was walking to and fro in front of the blinds, reflecting the dying light of Ilium's sun, and it lit him in a most flattering way. He was tall, lithe and vibrant, all vivid greens and daring blacks, with a hint of red and pink for accent. The conversation of the night before flooded into her mind unbidden, along with images of the Fornax magazine that was surely still sitting in her gear bag, stored in the compartment in the back of Grunt's armor. She actually caught herself attempting to scope out the general vicinity of his "package" as Jack had so delicately phrased it, when she heard the words "I'm dying" fall from his lips.

_Excellent, Shepard! _She thought. _Well and truly appropriate, given the situation! Perhaps you can push him onto the console next to Nassana and hump him like a varren in heat!_ She realized the mental chastisement must have gone on for a moment or two as they were all looking at her now. Grunt was looking impatient, which was hardly surprising considering the fact that he hadn't gotten to shoot anything for at least ten minutes. Thane was looking at her rather curiously, but his stoic demeanor was difficult to read. To her right, Mordin looked at her with a sly smile, one that said "_I caught you checking out drell crotch, you naughty Shepard you_". She would lock him in a closet as they left the tower, she decided.

Clearing her throat, she attempted to speak with an air of decisiveness. "Well then, let's see about getting transport back to the docking bay." As they headed towards the elevator, she stopped Grunt and grabbed her bag from the compartment, clutching it to her chest possessively. The Fornax was going in the shredder in her cabin when they reached the Normandy, no excuses.


	3. If a Crate Falls in a Warehouse

_"And it's been awhile since we dropped our guard and cracked a smile. Don't you think it's overdue?"_

_Truly, Truly – Grant Lee Buffalo_

* * *

Another day found Shepard crouched behind a crate in a cargo warehouse. She was always crouched behind a crate, it seemed. Seriously, about seventy percent of her time was spent huddled behind a crate while people attempted to murder her. It seemed that the galaxy itself was composed mostly of warehouses full of crates. Leaning out and to the right, she sent an incineration blast flying into the northwest corner of the room, burning the target to a crisp with a satisfying "Arrrrrgghhh!"

Miranda was crouched slightly to her right and behind, throwing heavy warps like it was her job, a look of grim determination on her face. Her sister was somewhere up ahead, theoretically, as were probably hundreds of Eclipse mercenaries. Not for the first time Shepard wished for the capability to launch a small scale tactical nuke; if she could be assured of Oriana's safety, of course. She glanced behind her and to the left, where Thane had been just a minute before. The spot was empty now, the crate looking quite forlorn without anyone to squat behind it.

She peered up, taking a quick enemy head count. "Three to the north-east, approximately twenty feet away, ducked behind a group of three crates; an engineer, vanguard and trooper. Two directly north, thirteen feet away, hidden behind two stacked crates; both engineers." Thane manifested beside her, taking careful aim and dropping the shields of the closest engineer. Miranda's warp followed this so closely that Shepard could have sworn that she and Thane were mind melded. Sometimes she loved her team.

"That's a handy trick." She gave Thane a nod of admiration and flipped an overload towards the mercs to the north-east, shattering the shields of two and killing one outright.

"Eidetic memory." He replied, casually sniping the vanguard. "Drell are born with it." Cocking his rifle to the right, he shot the approaching drone. "Invaluable when fighting mercenaries." He inclined his head at her and leapt over the crate, scouting ahead and to the left. Shepard couldn't help but grin, glancing back at Miranda and nodding her head forward.

The comm. channel lit up with Eclipse chatter about fifty feet ahead; they were setting up a blockade near the elevator to the transport level. Sprinting another twenty feet, she directed Miranda to flank left and took cover behind a platform, a welcome change from the endless series of crates. She'd caught sight of a group of approximately ten exiting the elevator, at least two of which were engineers, which meant drones. With a few clicks on her omni-tool she summoned her little friend, a golden hologram that flickered patiently in front of her, awaiting instruction.

Thane slid out of the shadow close to her right, duck walking over to where she sat consorting with her drone. "North-west quadrant. There's an engineer and possibly two vanguards. Shock the hell out of them, Zeus."

"Two vanguards, an engineer and a trooper." Thane clarified. The bot emitted a series of beeps and floated along the right side of the crates silently. "You named your drone?" He propped his arm on the crates, partially in shadow and took careful aim at the enemy drone headed towards them.

Shepard nodded, overloading the shields of the engineer attempting to flank them on the left. Thane's biotics warped her to death seconds after. "Of course I named him. He's saved my ass more times than I can count." She incinerated the shields of the merc shooting her drone, finishing him with a pistol shot.

"Zeus?" Thane questioned, dispatching the last trooper and turning back to face her.

Shepard laughed. "It's sort of cheesy. He's named after a Greek god; he throws lightning bolts as weapons, just like my little friend here." Zeus had returned to her side, all of the mercenaries dispatched.

"I'm pleased to meet you, Zeus." Thane said, inclining his head to the little bot

hovering between them. Zeus bobbed in return; for a drone, he was a cheeky little bastard.

Miranda was moving ahead already; the time for idle chitchat was clearly over. "Let's go, Krios. Places to go and mercs to kill." Thane nodded agreeably and motioned for her to lead the way. The Illlusive Man was a douchebag, but he did a pretty good job with picking potential teammates, she decided.

**o.O.o**

Later that evening, Shepard departed the Normandy with Jacob and Thane in tow. The rest of the crew had been shunted off for a few hours of shore leave until 0800 the next day, so the evening was essentially hers. Instead of relaxing, however, she was picking up a cast off battle mech from a contact of Thane's. They were apparently used by Nos Astra law enforcement for biotics and weapons training, and were extra hardy. Grunt needed something to beat on that wasn't the windows or walls in port cargo, and this would hopefully last the week or so it would take to get him to the krogan homeworld. There was a reinforced room next to the hangar where he could indulge his teenage hormones to his redundant heart's delight.

Jacob and Thane had graciously volunteered to help her retrieve the unit, both claiming that they could take their leave a bit later in the evening. Shepard hadn't argued; she'd wanted to get Jacob more comfortable with Thane anyway and this was a perfect opportunity. They'd rented a shuttle and traveled deep into the center of Nos Astra, leaving the clean city center behind for the dark and crowded streets of the warehouse district. There were very few asari here; those that did walk the streets wore Eclipse merc armor.

Thane directed them to a particularly derelict warehouse on a street full of decaying and otherwise abandoned buildings. "You take us to all the nicest places, Krios." Shepard quipped as they drew their weapons and headed towards the loading dock at the back of the building.

"Assassins don't generally mingle in high society." A small smile curved his lips as he spoke. When they reached the door he halted them, gesturing for them to stand back a few paces from the door. "It's best that Sana sees me when she opens the door. She tends to use her biotics first and ask questions later in unfamiliar company." He pressed a six-digit code into the keypad at the side of the door and waited, hands clasped behind his back.

Jacob was eyeing the parking lot around them, trying to make things out in the dim half-light of dusk. "You sure we need this mech, Shepard? We could always sedate Grunt and shove him back in the tube until we reach Tuchanka."

"Nice that you're so full of ideas now that we're already here, Taylor." She shot him a grin as she bounced on her toes, taking in their surroundings. "Besides, you know it's not an evening out with me unless someone attempts to shoot us in the ass."

Sana ended up being a lot more pleasant than Thane led them to believe. She'd stopped short of siccing her YMIR bodyguard on them when Thane hastily explained that they were the associates who were interested in her battle droid. It was in excellent condition too, as far as Shepard could tell. She'd brought her toolkit and run a few diagnostics on it and the battle program appeared to be fully intact. Sana had warmed up to her a bit after that, talking a bit about bots and modifications. She also promised to let Shepard know when she received interesting tech.

The asari hovered around Thane when she wasn't showing off the mech, leaning close while talking to him and touching his arm and shoulder frequently. She shadowed him as he moved across the room with Jacob, largely ignoring the Cerberus operative in favor of showing her wares to Thane. The drell bore the attention gracefully, acting as if he were not on the receiving end of any special treatment.

Jacob and Thane carried the battle mech out to the shuttle when they departed; it appeared that they'd settled into a companionable silence, which satisfied her at that point in time. She looked back curiously at Sana, who was giving them a wistful sort of wave from the shadows of the doorway, watching them cross the parking lot, load the droid into the shuttle and pull away.

"So, was Sana always just an associate? I only ask because I found her behavior towards you a bit more than friendly." Shepard eyed him curiously in her peripheral vision. He sat as straight as ever, hands folded into his lap and eyes focused on the surrounding street. "Sorry, you don't have to…" She began, hoping that she hadn't overstepped her bounds.

Thane shook his head. "No Shepard. It's not an unreasonable question." He closed his eyes briefly, turning his head to look at her as he opened them again. "It's difficult to explain my relationship with Sana without telling the story of the past ten years. Suffice to say that she did wish for something more intimate at one point in time; but we were never more than associates."

She nodded. "Understood. Thanks for being willing to answer." Glancing back at Jacob, she smiled. "So, who wants to volunteer to referee Grunt's first fight with that thing? I'll let whoever does fly the Hammerhead on the next mission."

**o.O.o**

The ship was eerily quiet when they returned, with most of the crew still on shore, probably terrorizing the local asari. Jacob and Thane carried the battle mech down to the self-contained room off of the hangar, where Shepard squatted down in front of it, opening a panel on the back of the foot and linking the internals to her omni tool.

Jacob cleared his throat. "If you don't need me anymore Commander, I think I might head out to Eternity for a few hours."

"Dammit, Jacob, call me Shepard." She hit the keys on her omni tool in rapid succession, throwing him a smile. "Watch yourself around the asari. You know how they like a man in uniform." As he neared the door, she called out to him. "Hey, keep an eye out for Jack and Grunt. I worry about letting those two loose on Nos Astra."

Jacob gave her a lazy salute, more like a tip of his imaginary hat. "Will do, Shepard."

She looked at Thane, who was watching her fly through omni tool screens with polite interest. "Do you have someplace to be as well, Krios?"

Thane pulled up his omni tool, flipping through a few screens. "My schedule is completely empty." He deadpanned.

"Very nice!" She laughed. The sound brought some warmth to the cold, metal walled room. "Are you ready? We're going to give this tin bucket a try. Hand to hand, use your biotics if you'd like."

Shepard tapped three keys and the battle mech stood, stretching its long arm and rotating its three fingered hands as if flexing. It was six and a half feet high, grey and imposing, with flashing red eyes. It didn't speak, but it moved immediately, swinging a wide metal arm at her chest. She ducked back and under, as Thane moved beside her, flanking the droid on the left.

The mechs programming was excellent. It didn't hesitant for more than a second when faced with multiple enemies. Jabbing its right arm back, it sent a metallic elbow towards Thane's face. He deflected it with a quick chop of his hand, sidestepping and circling further behind the machine. The long left arm swung at her head, clipping her ear as she moved backwards. The lobe was stinging and her ear was ringing slightly, but the adrenalin had kicked in already and she was feeling no pain.

Jogging backwards, she slipped out of arms reach, turning and hopping on top of a metal storage crate. From her vantage point over the mech's head she could see Thane, standing behind and out of arms reach. He was scanning it, looking for weak points. Perhaps the mechs rear sensors were malfunctioning, as it didn't seem to even notice the drell crouched behind it. It moved towards Shepard, arms shooting out from time to time to grab at her knees. She hopped from side to side like a small child, dodging each grab just barely. Skipping rope had never been her strong suit.

The battle program was set to run for exactly three minutes, at which point the mech would simply shut down. Shepard turned to hop off the back of the crate, but miscalculated, tripping over a grabbing arm and falling flat on her face. The droid took this opportunity to grab her flailing leg and haul her off of the crate, holding her off of the ground and intoning. "Concede your def…"

Thane had apparently found a kill switch somewhere on the back of the unit. It ground to an abrupt halt, releasing Shepard's leg unceremoniously. She fell poorly, landing on the side of her right shoulder and wrenching her right arm. _Chakwas is going to love this story._ She thought, rolling over and staring at the ceiling.

A strong hand gripped hers, pulling her to a sitting position. "Are you alright, Shepard?" He was holding her arm at the elbow as he spoke, moving it up and down as he checked for damage.

"My pride is the only thing that sustained lingering damage." Her tongue had joined into the fray, warbling in pain as she spoke. Apparently she'd bitten it when her face had made contact with the crate top. Touching her finger to it, she confirmed that it was bleeding.

He helped her the rest of the way up, leading her to the elevator. "We'll go to the medbay. If Dr. Chakwas is not back on board, I can mend your more superficial wounds." His hand tested her right arm again, moving it up and down at the joint. "You should have her look at this arm when she returns."

"I can probably take care of most of the wounds on my own." Shepard moved the shoulder around in its socket gingerly. It was a pulled muscle at the very least. "As for my shoulder, it will heal up like new in a few days. Cerberus stuffed me full of cybernetics and nanites when they revived me." She gave him a small grin. "Thank you though. Most of the team would have given me grief over getting my shoulder wrenched by a battle droid, of all things."

The corner of Thane's mouth twitched as he nodded to her. "You're welcome, Shepard. You've treated me with the utmost respect since coming on board. I'm merely returning the favor." He turned away from her, appearing to examine the sleeve of his jacket quite studiously. "However, your hand to hand combat is a bit… unrefined."

The bark of laughter escaped her before she could stop it. "I think that unrefined is too kind a word. I'm an engineer and a tactician, not a close combat expert." She looked at him curiously. "Maybe you could help with that? Give me, and the rest of the team, some lessons?"

The elevator doors opened and they stepped out into the hallway. "Of course, Shepard. I would be glad to instruct when we have the time." He inclined his head to her and turned to walk towards life support.

"Thane. One more thing, if you don't mind?"

He turned toward her, giving her his full attention.

"I know that you told me that you didn't want any help, with your Kepral's that is. I might have the beginning of an idea. Something I'd need to research with Chakwas and Mordin. It would hopefully be small scale, able to be done in the medbay here." She searched his impassive face as she shuffled her feet, eager to get this out and over with. "Would you at least consider whatever I might bring to you?"

Thane was very still for a moment, hands locked behind his back and posture ramrod straight. She was beginning to recognize this as his 'considering' pose. Finally he relaxed, letting his hands hang at his sides. "Yes. I would be willing to consider your solution, if it's reasonable." He raised his left hand briefly. "Good night, Shepard."

Her head was flooded with thoughts of nanorobot swarms as she turned and headed towards the medbay.

* * *

**_A/N: I was more than a bit unhappy with the last two thirds of the original chapter 3, so I changed it to make the introduction of treatment for Thane less jarring. Thanks to Wyl for agreeing to beta my stuff and Katerina Kintari for looking over/editing this chapter for me (both are excellent writers in their own rights). _**


	4. How Shepard Got Her Zen

**A/N: Thanks again to Wyl and Katerina Kintari, who have been very gracious about editing/betaing. I welcome constructive criticism as well, so feel free to let me know what I can improve. Thanks to anyone who takes the time out of their day to leave a review; they are much appreciated.**

* * *

Samara cleared her throat politely; the ball of dark energy contained between her hands remained perfectly still as she did this, as Shepard was impressed to note. Shepard knew this because despite the fact that she was supposed to be deep in meditative thought, she had instead been humming "Ticket to Ride" by The Beatles, drumming it out on the floor beside her.

"Perhaps silent meditation is not a proper method of reflection for you, Shepard." Samara's voice was calm and even, completely unruffled by her human companion's jittery behavior. "It is not suited for every species."

She had to agree with that. This was the third day this week that she'd joined Samara in the starboard observatory, attempting to sit quietly and still her mind as she contemplated eternity. The asari were always on about eternity, and as they lived to be over a thousand years old without going clinically insane, she thought that they'd be a good resource for relaxation techniques. The justicar had been amazingly patient with her, showing her how to position herself and guide her mind down the proper path. It certainly wasn't Samara's fault that she couldn't sit still for more than ten minutes unless she was sleeping.

It was not as if she hadn't tried to sit quietly. Shepard had seated herself in prime view of the enormity of space and closed her eyes, willing her mind to stop whirring like her space hamster in his little wheel. It had worked, until the voices had started prattling in her head, reminding her of tasks she had yet to accomplish, and wouldn't accomplish sitting on her ass in the starboard observatory.

At first it was Kelly's voice, telling her that she had unread e-mails (probably hundreds at this point) and that the Illusive Man wanted to speak with her (in her humble opinion he could fucking wait on that). Joker chimed in, telling her that she needed to stop wasting gas scuttling from planet to planet trying to fix the broken psyches of the crew. Then EDI reminded her that she needed to get in a few rounds of strip mining in to support her upgrading habit. The thought of probing planets vaguely depressed her, triggering the Mordin voice prescribing her pills to _'Lift mood. Release endorphins. Give a sense of well-being. Side effects may include uncontrollable itching, insomnia and inflamed genitals.'_ Thoughts of genitals brought a disembodied Jack, telling Shepard that she needed to _'Loosen the fuck up. Get laid or something. At least watch the holos in that Fornax that Scarface bought you.'_

"I'm going for a run." Shepard stood, brushing her cotton pants off as quietly as possible. "I apologize for the noise, Samara. Thanks for trying."

Samara opened her eyes as she moved to the door. "The noise was not bothersome, Shepard. You have a lovely voice." She dropped the ball for a moment, turning to look at Shepard as she left. "I am sorry that I could not be of more help to you. Perhaps something less… immobile would suit your nature?"

Shepard didn't believe for one second that Samara had enjoyed being regaled with a Beatles medley; Samara was far too gracious to call her out on it though. "I think you're on to something there, Samara. Sitting still is definitely not my forte." As the door shut behind her, she broke into a jog towards the elevator, hitting the button for the cargo bay. The two things that she'd requested from Cerberus were a weight set and a treadmill. She'd gotten a weight set and a state of the art running mill; a machine that could fit two runners side by side in a gigantic, enclosed wheel-like structure. A variety of landscapes could be projected inside, making it seem as if you were running in the forest, or on a beach.

Jacob was sitting on the bench when she hustled in, rolling his massive shoulders in an effort to loosen up. "Need a spotter, Jacob?" She grabbed at towel and some water from the small cooler in the corner, putting them on the bench beside the door as she put her hair up with a hairband.

"Nah, I'm good." He answered, laying back and scooting under the bar. "How the hell can you run in that?" Putting his hands up, he flexed his fingers around the bar. "I don't like running at all, but I'd hate to do it stuffed in that thing."

She shrugged, lunging against the side of the runner with her right foot out. "It doesn't feel like you're in an enclosed space with the holo going." Sticking her left foot forward, she lunged deep, shooting him a grin. "I would think that a meathead like you would know about the importance of cardio."

He grunted noncommittally in response, pushing the weight off of the bars and lowering it slowly towards his chest. Her relationship with Jacob had gotten comfortable since Aeia. They'd formed a bond over their former Alliance status and things had actually gotten comfortable between them.

As Shepard was finishing her stretches, Thane entered the room. He was dressed in what was probably the drell equivalent of a track suit; a form fitting sleeveless top that was zipped three quarters of the way and looser pair of pants that hung down to his human sneakers. His thick musculature made him a perfect endurance runner, and Shepard had been pleased to learn that they had something in common, something that apparently crossed some species and cultural barriers.

She inclined her head towards him in greeting. "How did you know that I'd go for a run right now?"

"You've been keeping the same pattern this week, typically been running between 1300 and 1400, most often after visiting with Samara." Placing his hands on his thighs, he flowed into a deep side lunge. "How are your lessons progressing?"

Shepard watched him go through a series of warm-up stretches with something akin to awe. The thick muscle base did nothing to hinder his body's ability to stretch deeply; it reminded her of the yoga instructors that she'd tried so desperately to emulate. "The lessons are done, by mutual agreement. Samara is infinitely patient but I am utterly incapable of 'attaining a meditative state', as Samara puts it." She finger quoted for emphasis as she said this.

Thane appeared amused as he opened the door to the runner, gesturing for her to enter before him. The inside compartment was approximately twelve feet across, room enough for the two separate rotating tracks that lay alongside each other, allowing running partners to set differing paces and maintain a comfortable distance. She took the far track and set up the environment; Thane had never seen the forest path, so she thought it appropriate.

They started off at a slow jog, and she took in the scenery projected around them. It was an old forest, with thick canopy of trees that let in brilliant shafts of sunlight that dappled the path around them. The path ahead was compacted dirt and predominantly flat. The silence between them was easy; Shepard didn't feel compelled to fill the gaps of conversation in his presence.

"This is serene, Shepard. I've never seen a forest like this." His dark eyes scanned the scenery with interest. "It reminds me of a human poem I once read; Frost, I believe. The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep…"

"And miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep." She finished, looking over at him and admiring his running stride, which was easily over half as long as hers. Though his pace was much quicker, he spoke as if he were out for a casual stroll. Sometimes, quite often in fact, she thought that Thane would probably make a far better savior of the galaxy than she.

"We had forested areas on Mindoir. The trees were different though; broader and leafier." It was curious how often she spoke about her past when he was around. She had made peace with it years ago, but she spoke of it rarely, even to her closest friends.

They settled into their own thoughts, minds occupied by the pounding of their feet against the track below and the swinging of their arms with each stride. The next hour was blissfully peaceful for Shepard, her mind drifting instead of snagging on each small issue that seemed to pop up as it did when she was not running. As the track came to a halt under her feet she felt renewed.

Thane glanced up at her as he stretched his muscles. "This is your meditation, Shepard. Here you forget the stress of the mission; you relax and center yourself on the movement of your body. I can see that you're more relaxed now; the tension in your shoulders is gone." He stood and placed his hands on her shoulders and shook them lightly to demonstrate.

She smiled as she looked at him. He was motionless in front of her, his depthless black eyes completely unreadable. She could feel the warmth of his hands on her shoulders acutely; they took several measured breaths simultaneously, holding each other's gaze. Something passed between them, fleeting but significant, and then Thane abruptly dropped his hands from her shoulders. "I have matters to attend to. Please excuse me, Shepard." He reverted back to formality as he bowed slightly and left the runner, closing the door quietly behind him.

"What the hell?" The breathy quality of her voice was mildly disconcerting to her.

Opening the runner door, she stepped out into the small hangar, intending to head to her room to shower and ponder the matters at hand for a brief while. Joker's interruption of her ablutions to announce their approach to Haestrom drove all other thoughts out of her mind.

~*~

Shepard insisted on bringing Tali to see Chakwas when they arrived back on the Normandy, reasoning that the good doctor would be happy to see Tali even if she were uninjured. Tali checked out perfectly, but the three of them ended up sitting and reminiscing for quite a while anyway, with Chakwas dispensing more of her serrice iced brandy. The subject of nanotech came up rather fortuitously; Tali was explaining the intricacies of quarian suit repair, which happened to involve thousands of nanites that existing in the antibiotic fluid layer between the quarians and their outer suit.

"Do these nanites repair cellular damage as well as suit damage?" Shepard's interest was peaked now; she'd been meaning to consult with Chakwas in the issue in any case, and this was a perfect segue into the discussion.

Tali nodded, pulling up her omni tool and displaying the nanorobot schematics. "There are two differing types of nanites. One is programmed to repair suit punctures and other suit related damage. The second is programmed to suture wounds at the cellular level, as well as to dispense certain antibiotics into the cellular structure. We've been using them for hundreds of years and they are well integrated into our biological systems at this point."

_As if I didn't love you enough already, Tali._ Shepard thought, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her thighs. "I have a notion about nanobots that I think you are pretty qualified to address, Tali."

The three of them spent the next hour discussing the potential adaptation of nanites for various species. Chakwas volunteered to take blood and tissue samples from Shepard the next day; she was too far into her cups to handle the biopsy and specimen handling at that moment.

Tali was waving her hands a great deal as she spoke, a sure sign that she was excited about the topic. "I think that we can do this, Shepard. It should be a simple matter to alter the programming to adapt to drell, or another other species' biology." She was grinning behind the helmet, as Shepard could see clearly through the purple tinted visor.

"I've missed you, Tali." She was practically bursting with fondness for the quarian at the moment, partially due to the iced brandy sloshing through her system and partly due to genuine affection.

Tali giggled and leaned across to give her a brief hug.

Chakwas gave Shepard a knowing look as she sipped the last of her umpteenth glass of brandy. "I can see why you're concerned about saving the drell, Shepard. He's quite pleasant to look at." She smirked and pointed towards life support. "I see you in there nearly every day, so don't try to deny it."

Shepard huffed indignantly as the flush rose in her cheeks. "I visit everyone at least once a day, doctor. I don't play favorites." She jabbed her finger at the main battery, visible through the large window behind them. "If Garrus was suffering from a terminal illness I'd be doing the same for him."

Across from her, Tali was giggling even louder; _She hadn't even had anything to drink. I don't know what the hell she's laughing about._ Mumbling crossly, Shepard sat back and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Shepard, I know that you'd do anything for your team." Tali's voice was full of warmth, though still tinged with a bit of humor. "However, Thane is very…" She paused for a moment, reaching for an appropriate word or phrase. "He's very striking. You have to have noticed."

The timely entrance of Garrus saved her from formulating a reply. He poked his head into the medbay, mandibles flaring in an agitated fashion. "Shepard, I need to talk to you."

She said her goodnights to Tali and Chakwas and followed Garrus down through the mess. "Liara's tracked Sidonis to the Citadel." He began.

~*~

The fish were still lively, swimming up to the surface in anticipation of a regular feeding. She hit the automated feeder, then crossed to the paper calendar that she'd set up specifically for this purpose, drawing an awkward looking fish on the date to mark yet another day of life for her slimy little buddies. It had taken her hours of searching on the extranet to find a shop that actually produced paper calendars; everything was digitally produced now. If she thought about it deeply she supposed that it would teach her a valuable lesson about the fragility of life and scarcity of resources or something, but she had enough on her agenda at the moment without adding to it.

She paged Joker on the intercom to verify their arrival time on the Citadel; it looked like she'd have up to ten hours of sleep that night, if she so chose. Sleep was a finite resource in her life and anything more than six hours at a go was cause for celebration in her mind. Chucking her ship clothes in the bin, she donned a tank top and thin cotton sweats before throwing herself on the bed and staring up through the skylight.

Her eyes eventually dipped lower, scanning the room for reading material to help quiet her mind for sleep. They lighted on the Fornax on the desk across from her, sitting there casually and seeming to say _'Hey Shepard, you were talking about drell earlier, and how beautiful they are. Aren't you the least bit curious about them? Do you think the other males have markings as pretty as Thane? There's one way to find out. We always have drell on display here in Fornax. Just for you, Shepard, just for you.'_

The problem lay in the fact that she was curious. She couldn't deny that Thane was easy on the eyes, nor could she deny that she'd wondered if other drell looked similar to him. _They might look even better._ A sneaky little part of her mind volunteered. She was up and the magazine was in her hands before she could stop herself. Sighing, she sat on the edge of the bed and opened it, flipping through the pages hastily, as if she was hiding her perversions from the fish silently judging her in the tank across the room.

EDI's glowing appearance on her nightstand made her jump guiltily. "Thane Krios is here to see you, Shepard."

_FUCK._ This was her only coherent thought as she hastily shoved the magazine under her pillow. "Let him in, EDI."

"Understood. Logging you out, Shepard." EDI blinked away and Shepard stood as the door to her cabin swished open.

Thane stalked in, his posture stiff. She noticed his body language immediately and hurried up the step to meet him. "What's wrong?"

He stopped short, facing towards the fish tank. "It's my son…"

Shepard felt her world crumble around her.


	5. Feelings whoa, whoa, whoa

_"So swallow all your tears my love, and put on your new face. You can never win or lose if you don't run the race." _

_ Love My Way by The Psychedelic Furs_

_

* * *

_

For the first time in many, many years Shepard felt overwhelmed. The past thirty-six hours had afforded her nearly no breaks as she'd moved from saving Kolyat to saving Garrus from himself, then on to picking up Kasumi. She hadn't even had time to visit with her newest team member to see how she was settling in. On top of it all she was feeling morose, which she hated.

Shepard was generally a cheerful person, often to the annoyance of those around her. Optimism was apparently a genetic defect, as she'd inherited it directly from her father, who'd plugged through life on Mindoir with an exuberance bordering on manic. Kelly was about the only person who could rival her in bloody-minded happiness; when they got together they sometimes created a perfect storm of general good will that drove the crew as far away from them as possible.

She picked at the food in front of her with listless motions, having forced herself to heat up a bowl of last night's dinner only because she needed the calories. Thane's visit to her cabin kept running through her mind like the space hamster on his little wheel; if this was how eidetic memory felt than she wasn't sure how Thane could stand it.

Thane's revelation of his son had sent her spiraling through a series of thoughts that she was not at all comfortable with. Before yesterday she had never even considered the possibility that he might have a significant other, or even a wife. She'd never even thought to ask him any questions about his past, preferring to let him steer their topics of conversation.

The fact that Thane had a wife didn't bother her; her reaction to the information was the crux of her problem. In the few minutes that she'd thought that this wife existed she'd found it hard to breathe. Her stomach had twisted into a painful knot and she'd frozen in place, dropping the hand that she'd been reaching towards him. She had been undeniably upset by the thought of him being in an intimate relationship with someone.

She looked up at her space hamster, burrowing in his little tunnel on the shelf to her right. "Relationships are a bitch, right Buck?" Buck Rogers poked his head out of the burrow at the sound of his name and scurried to the edge of the glass, tapping his nose against it gently. He squeaked at her almost sadly as he looked at her with his cute and soulless black eyes. "Thanks buddy." She tapped the glass and he squeaked again, turning to burrow back into his tube.

The sudden sound of disco music emanating from the terminal behind her indicated that she'd received a message. Strangely enough it was from Garrus, the very turian that she'd been thinking about, when she wasn't wallowing in her own confused feelings. He'd brushed her off twenty hours ago when she'd tried to talk to him about Sidonis, but such things didn't sit well with her.

Garrus's big turian head popped up on her screen, adjusting what was apparently a small camera in front of him. When he was finally satisfied with the image he leaned back on the console behind him, crossing his arms in front of him. "Look, Shepard, I know that you plan on barreling down here sometime today to talk about Sidonis and make sure that I'm okay. You're probably worried about whether or not I'm mad at you, in fact." He cocked his head to the side and smirked at the camera. "I probably should let you hang for a while, draaaaaw it out a bit." The wink he flipped at the camera made her laugh.

"However, I'm actually feeling better today, which is inclining me to be generous." He fidgeted for a second, sighing as he looked down at his folded arms. "You were right, Shepard. It took everything I had in me not to shoot you in the ass, but you were right. Sidonis is paying his own price and shooting him wouldn't have accomplished anything beyond making me feel vindicated for a minute." He paused for a moment, looking at the camera while his mandibles fluttered gently.

His voice was almost gentle when he spoke again. "So we're okay, Shepard. You're still one of my closest friends, and I don't want to shoot you in the ass anymore. However, " The turian unfolded himself and stood straight, pointing a taloned hand at the camera. "I still don't want to talk about it. I'm a guy, Shepard; we don't have lengthy discussions about our feelings like you women do."

"Thanks again, Shepard." He was grinning at the camera when the video abruptly faded to black.

Shepard stared at the screen for a minute, smiling absently. Watching that had made her feel quite a bit better about things; maybe it wasn't quite as complicated as she'd suspected earlier. More music heralded the arrival of new mail, and she tabbed back into her mailbox to investigate. The bold subject greeted her; Fornax Digital Subscription Confirmation: Welcome to the Galaxy's Hottest Aliens!

Joker piped up on the intercom. "Hey, Commander? You up there brooding or something?"

"You know me, Joker. Moping my life away up here. What's up?" She absently clicked on the Fornax extranet link, clicking through the 'adults only' warning when it popped up.

"Well, maintenance on the ship is going to take a little longer than they originally estimated." Cerberus had insisted on performing this routine maintenance when they'd docked at the Citadel, citing the need to upgrade a few sensors and perform some shield maintenance. Shepard suspected that it was a thinly veiled attempt to install some more tracking mechanisms, but she trusted that Tali would take care of that in short order after undocking.

She sighed loudly, clicking on a few of the links on Fornax's main page. Apparently this month's issue had a drell centerfold. _Interesting._ "How much longer, Joker?"

"I gave them a bunch of shit, Shepard… after midnight is their official estimate now." He made a gagging noise into the intercom. "So, what's the call? Shore leave until tomorrow?"

_Might as well check out the drell. What can it hurt?_ As the page loaded, she stared at the intercom. "Why the hell not, Joker. Make an announcement that everyone's free to roam the Citadel until 0700 tomorrow."

"Aye, aye." She imagined Joker giving her a rather flippant salute. "You'll meet us at the Dark Star for drinks later?" As Shepard opened her mouth to answer, distinctly pornographic music boomed from her terminal. "Shepard, is that… " Joker's voice was cut off by a low growl, apparently delivered by the scarlet drell male taking up most of Shepard's screen.

Shepard spoke quickly as she moved to shut off the intercom and close the video at the same time. "It's nothing, Joker, just Garrus being an ass. I'll meet you there." A flip of the switch broke the connection between them as her eyes were drawn back to the screen.

The drell really was gorgeous; deep red skinned with bold brown striping across his broad chest. The same brown stripes adorned his face, with a lighter brown decorating his cheek and throat ridging. As the camera pulled away she could see that he was completely naked to the waist at least, with gorgeously defined musculature. She was holding her breath as the camera continued to slowly pull back, getting closer and closer to that spot below…

"Thane is here to see you, Shepard." EDI's blue globe popped up near the doors as they slid open. She heard Thane stepping through the door behind her as she was madly clicking at the corner of the video, willing it to close by brute force if necessary.

"I'm going to memorize all of you." The voice on her screen was low and husky, with a vibrato distinctly similar to Thane's.

_ABORT! ABORT!_ Her mind screamed. Left foot kicking out to the side, she knocked the terminal's plug out of the wall, effectively stopping the video.

"Shepard? Am I interrupting?" Thane was standing behind her when she turned in her chair; hands folded neatly behind his back and face implacable as ever.

She stood, smoothing her black cotton pants and straightening her green tshirt. "You're not interrupting, Thane. My terminal was just flipping out. Had to hard stop it." Her hand gestured in the general direction of the unplugged terminal.

He nodded and relaxed, his hands dropping to slack positions at his side. "How are you feeling?"

She didn't know why, but it always touched her when Thane asked how she was feeling. It wasn't just a conversation starter for him, as it was for many humans. He actually listened to her response. "I'm well, Thane. Garrus and I are on speaking terms again, which was my main worry." It felt awkward just standing around in her office, so she gestured toward the sofa on the main floor.

As she turned to descend the step, Thane took her hand in his, pulling her back towards him. "I came to thank you, Shepard. For helping me to save Kolyat." His hands were warmer than she'd imagined; she stared down at her right hand enfolded by his two and felt a fluttering in her stomach.

There were so many potential responses floating through her mind. _I need you at your best, Thane. I would have done that for any member of my team. We were headed there anyway to take care of Garrus._ All of these things were true, but none of them were the real reason. "You're welcome. I… I care about your wellbeing." She laid her hand on top of his and they held each other that way for a long moment, looking at each other but saying nothing.

"I have to go, siha." There was a husky timbre to his voice that sent shivers down her back as he reluctantly extracted his hands from hers. "I should see Kolyat while we are still docked." He began to turn, then hesitated. "Perhaps I can take you somewhere later? As a show of gratitude."

"We're going to the Dark Star later. I can send you the information when I find out myself." Shepard's mind was spinning again. She needed to get off of the ship and think for a long while.

He inclined his head in assent. "I look forward to it. Good luck with your terminal." The small twitch of his lips let Shepard know that he had indeed heard everything that had happened as he entered her cabin. _Goddammit, Garrus!_

**o.O.o**

An hour later she was on the Citadel in a maintenance hallway in the Embassy district. Anderson had told her about the running path, which was located just off the hallway from his office. She'd stowed her gear bag under his desk and slipped in, checking the laces of her shoes and warming up as she scanned the path. The passageway was designed to accommodate maintenance vehicles, with ample space for running several abreast. This afternoon with Thane had set her off again, and she was going to sort through the snarled tangle of feelings if it took her ten miles.

The emotions she'd felt when Thane had told her of his deceased wife and estranged son were the core of the problem. He'd become a good friend in the months that he'd traveled on the Normandy. She considered the hours spent with him to be among the most enjoyable that she'd had since she'd woken on that cold metal table. However, she also enjoyed spending time with Garrus, Tali, Mordin, hell sometimes even Jack was fun to hang around.

She knew that finding out that Garrus was seeing someone wouldn't upset her. He'd told her about past relationships before and it had been just another thing that she knew about him, another part of her friend Garrus. However, the brief moment that she'd thought of Thane with another had been deeply unsettling. Thane would still be her friend, she knew, but thinking that a part of him was unavailable to her was… well, she regretted it not being available, to put it bluntly.

If life was a university, and Shepard was being graded on the most important areas of daily existence, she would receive high marks almost all areas. She kept herself fed, was well versed in hygiene, and exercised and rested enough to keep her body in shape. Spiritually she was comfortable; her beliefs were rather nebulous at best, but she was content with her belief in the existence of the soul and her general lack of consideration beyond that. Interpersonal relationships up and through friendship were her specialty; she could get along with any species and was fairly certain that she could even win the Reapers over to her side given some time.

Romances, however, were a solid F on the grading scale. She had failed spectacularly in every instance, though not all were due to her personally. Her first romance had ended at the age of sixteen when Mindoir was raided; this was more due to unfortunate luck than personal failing, but it had started a trend that had continued into her adult years. Her second great love had been killed in action on Elysium six years later. They had been engaged at the time and it had been the closest she'd come to any type of permanent relationship.

Any relationships in the ensuing nine years had been casual, friendship with benefits type arrangements. Kaidan was the closest she'd come a proper romance, until Virmire. Shepard was rarely stationed in one place long enough to form a serious relationship, and danger followed her like a hangover after a night carousing at Eternity. She just wasn't girlfriend material, as life had repeatedly bludgeoned into her thick head. _Yet I'm still lonely. _The sudden revelation shocked the hell out of her.

As this great epiphany was making itself known, Jacob was approaching her at Olympic sprint speed. When it came to running he only had two rates of movement; balls out or standing still. Evenly paced and measured running was for crazies like Shepard, who did that shit on a regular basis.

Jacob was still questioning why he'd agreed to make this delivery for Miranda. She'd stopped him an hour ago, as he was preparing to meet Kasumi and Garrus at the Dark Star for drinks. Miranda had slipped a micro drive into his hands and told him that Shepard needed to see its contents. Jacob hated mysterious errands and bristled at her demanding tone, so he questioned her.

For ten minutes they'd argued, Miranda refusing to give any details about the mysterious micro drive and Jacob refusing to proceed without a hint of what was going on. When she'd pulled him into a nearby utility closet he'd been surprised, and strangely aroused, though he'd never admit that to her. Their relationship had always been a bit tumultuous, and many of their best escapades had happened after a disagreement.

To his slight disappointment, she'd proceeded to tell him about the information on the datapad; the schematics and data contained therein, and how it could help with Shepard's personal quest to stall the progression of Keprals' in Thane's system. It was data that Shepard hadn't asked for and that Miranda was essentially stealing from Cerberus archives to pass along. Jacob approved wholeheartedly.

That type of behavior was unexpected from Miranda, and he had mused about it as he tracked Shepard down. Always the loyalist, she'd excused any number of abhorrent behaviors "for the greater good of humanity". Yet there she was, passing data to help an alien species. Miranda's alliances were shifting slightly and Jacob found that he was very in favor of the change. So he found himself in a utility tunnel on the Citadel, chasing Shepard as she cruised down the hall.

His timely sprint towards Shepard and her untimely stumble collided with unfortunate accuracy, sending her flying straight into an oncoming salarian despite her best efforts to swerve. The shocked salarian was knocked into the side of a slowly lumbering elcor, apparently out for that species version of a speed walk. The elcor barely moved as the salarian impacted on its side, crumpling into a heap on the utility floor.

"Dammit, Shepard, why did you just suddenly _stop_?" Jacob chided, extending her a hand to help her to her feet. Sometimes he wondered at the differences between Shepard on the battlefield and Shepard in her personal life. The disparity was comical.

She shook herself, rubbing her side with ginger fingers. "I suddenly realized something important, Jake." Her eyes shot to the salarian shaking his head groggily to their left. "Shit. Are you okay? I'm so sorry." Shepard was squatting in front of the dazed salarian, probing the parts of his head that she could easily reach with gentle pressure.

"Offended. Is no one going to ask about me?" The elcor rumbled, stopped in place slightly behind the salarian.

An acrid smell hung in the air, and Jacob supposed that was the elcor's indignation making its way into their nostrils. _That damned thing can't be serious, can it?_ It would take several large humans, running at full speed, to damage an elcor even slightly. He put on his good soldier face and approached the elcor, making noises of concern as he looked critically at its side. "Would you like me to fetch a doctor for you?" Reigning in the "ma'am" before it escaped his throat was difficult, but he managed. He still had no clue about how to discern elcor sexual traits.

Twenty minutes later, both the salarian and elcor were sorted and on their way, neither worse off for the incident. Shepard was staring at him curiously as she absently rubbed her elbow. "What's the deal, Jake? You don't **ever** run with me, so what's up?"

"Well **Grace**, since we're on those terms now, I have something for you." He reached behind her as if to check her for injury, opening the flap on her waist pack and slipping the micro drive inside. He spoke close to her ear. "Inside your pack is a micro drive containing every data file from the Lazarus project. The Illusive Man knows nothing about this, and Miranda wants to keep it that way."

To her credit, Shepard played along, patting his arm in a reassuring manner. She spoke quietly, turning her head towards his ear. "I haven't even talked to her about the data yet. How did she know that I was going to ask for it?" She thought for a moment, and then grimaced. "The med bay is bugged. Damn."

"I'm pretty sure that she's taken care of it already. Miranda told me that she left a set of instructions in the main folder, so be sure to check that out first." He pulled away from her, breaking the contact but still speaking softly. "He's a good fighter; a solid man. I can see why you want to save him, Shepard."

"I… Tell her that I said thank you, Jacob." She felt her eyes getting a bit _moist_ and clamped down on that shit before it could turn into full-fledged tears. "Thank you too. I'm sorry I stopped in the middle of the path like a tool."

Jacob chuckled and grabbed her hand, pulling her in for a shoulder bump. "It was nothing." He checked his omni tool. "I have somewhere to be though. I'll catch you later." He turned to leave, but hesitated after a few feet. "You're welcome to join us at the Dark Star, Shepard."

"I already got the invite, Jake. Thanks though." She gave him a small salute, which he returned before he continued walking down the corridor. The micro-drive was burning a hole in her pack, insisting that she plug it into her omni tool and examine the data.

Shepard ducked into a side hallway and linked it in, uploading and decrypting the data while toweling off her neck and face. Running time was over; it was time to head back to the Normandy and sort through the new data before she got ready for her evening. Stopping by Anderson's office, she grabbed her gear bag and hailed a shuttle back to the Normandy.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks again to Katerina Kintari for giving me feedback/grammar/sanity checks. Her stories are more than worth a read. Also, thanks to Wyl, who's going to end up being my zeta because I'm hideously impatient. Many thanks to anyone who takes the time to review/favorite/alert my stuff as it is certainly encouraging to know that someone is reading out there. Constructive criticism is completely welcome, so feel free to share if you see any mistakes or awkward phrasing.**


	6. Hips and Buttocks

_"I woke up the house, stumbled in sideways. The lights went on and everybody screamed 'Surprise!'"_

_Nails In My Feet - Crowded House_

* * *

Shepard was happy to discover that her terminal booted after her hasty shutdown earlier. A good portion of her first several days onboard the new Normandy had been spent wiping and reconfiguring the machine to suit her liking. Tali had hooked her up with a Quarian Linux variant a few years before; it was ridiculously encrypted, to the point where even Cerberus would have to invest some serious talent in hacking it. She'd found it, along with her extensive music collection in her vault on Noveria; still maintained two years after her death.

As she set up the micro drive to copy over to her terminal, she plugged in her headphones and played the audio message Jacob had indicated in the root folder. Miranda's voice filled her ears as she got up from the desk, rooting through the clothing in her closet for something suitable to wear that evening.

"_Shepard. I heard your discussion with Dr. Chakwas and Tali' Zorah in the medical bay. I arranged to have the files for that evening corrupted beyond repair, but you need to be more careful in the future. I've included a schematic of the ship with a listing of known bugs and cameras; Tali should be helpful in disabling those."_

There was a shuffling in the background, as of someone moving papers around. Miranda cleared her throat and continued. _"The microdrive that Jacob is bringing to you contains all of the classified Lazarus project files, including a few from my own personal files. It is my opinion that any of the methods that we used to reconstruct you could be modified to work with drell physiology, though I'm far from an expert. I've taken the liberty of sending this information to Mordin through secure channels."_

A pause again, this time noticeably longer than the first. _"We got off on the wrong foot, Shepard. I thought that I knew all about you from reading your files over and over; I expected betrayal even as late as Ilium. You've proven me wrong. I don't know that you can ever trust me fully, but I'm hoping that this can go some way towards that. If you read through the files you'll know how to reach me outside of the Cerberus firewall. I'll help in any way that I can."_

For the second time that day, Shepard felt her eyes moistening. She was starting to feel like a character on one of those asari daytime dramas, breaking down in theatrical tears as an orchestra swelled in the background. The thought that Miranda had gone out on a limb for her made her feel all sorts of warm and fuzzy. This was the same woman who had wanted to implant a control chip in her as recently as several months ago.

She shook her head and continued to stare into the depths of her closet; she would not dive into mawkish sentimentality for the second time today. There had to be something spectacular lurking in the murky depths of her closet; something that she could put on and dance the night away while in the company of her twenty odd closest friends. _Well, maybe not actually dance._ Shepard had no illusions about her dance abilities, which were absolutely nil.

This overwhelming urge to wear something impressive had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that a certain drell assassin would be in attendance this evening either. His earlier offer to take her somewhere had been an offer based on friendly appreciation, she was firmly convinced. They meshed well as friends, where their personality variances worked in complement. Those variances would be hindrances in an amorous setting, where her lack of deep introspection would irritate his deeply meditative nature.

Additionally, the physical attraction was lacking. She'd noticed his physical attributes of course; she wasn't completely lacking in sexual drive after all. He was well-formed, sculpted out of lean muscle that was only accentuated by his mode of dress. His skin was a gorgeous iridescent green that the bold black striping set off perfectly, and his lips were practically sinfully perfect. When he moved through a room, every eye was drawn to him.

Shepard stared at herself in the closet mirror, frowning. Why would someone as exotic as Thane find her physically attractive? She was on the tallish side, and solidly medium framed, with a generous helping of muscle that wouldn't have suited a smaller frame. Her eyes were a plain brown; her hair, while a fairly nice shade of auburn, was a perpetual mess of curls that refused to bow to any styling product known to man or alien. Even now they escaped and curled around her face moistly, even though she'd wrestled them into a ponytail and secured the remainder with a hairband.

Turning to the side, she examined her profile. Possibly her bust would be considered an asset; it was slightly larger than average, though pretty well suited to her less than delicate frame. She didn't think that breasts would make a difference to a species whose females possessed none, however. All in all she was the kind of woman who you called to save the galaxy, not the sort of woman who transcended species barriers with her beauty.

She was saved from a further bout of self-pity by EDI's voice. "Kasumi is here to see you, Shepard."

"Let her in EDI." Shepard sighed and sifted through the garments again; everything was either too military formal or made of cotton. There was really nothing frivolous enough to suit a night where she was determined to forget any potential threats to sentient life in favor of getting toasted.

Kasumi stood next to her, peering into the closet with genuine interest. "Do you have anything that doesn't double as sleepwear, Shep?" She fingered a blue tshirt briefly.

Shepard sighed. "Apparently not. I haven't exactly had a ton of spare time to go shopping since waking from the dead."

The thief chuckled, walking towards the bureau on the far wall. "Mind if I give it a look through?"

"Be my guest, Kasumi. It's just more of the same shit though." Shepard squatted and leaned forward, intent on going through the boxes at the bottom of her closet for once. The door _shcwicked _open and Jack strode in looking thoroughly bored. Shepard was about to ask why EDI hadn't announced her, but thought better of it before she opened her mouth. "Hey, Jack."

She and Jack had a tentative truce going on at the moment. Shepard found it difficult not to be friends with her crew; Jack found it difficult to be friends with anyone. This put them at odds on how their working relationship should proceed. Odds that usually ended in Jack cussing Shepard out for being so 'fucking persistent'.

Jack came to stand next to Shepard, leafing through her clothing with a smirk on her face. "Jesus. Do you have anything not made of cotton, Shepard? It's like a four year old's closet."

Shepard moved further into the closet, sitting cross-legged. "Oh, ha ha. As if leather tit straps and a rubber shirt are the clothing equivalents of maturity." She pulled a fairly nice looking pair of low-heeled boots out of a box, examining them carefully. From the corner of her eye she saw Jack crack a smile.

"This is actually pretty presentable." Shepard turned to see Kasumi holding up a purple tank top with a gathered bustline. "It's cotton, of course, but it accentuates the positive, if you get my meaning."

The tattooed menace scrutinized it, and then gave Kasumi a cursory nod. "Check the drawers for jeans. It's probably the best we're going to do in here."

Shepard was starting to feel distinctly out of control in the situation, like she was playing the part of a dressing dummy. "All right, out with it. What's going on here? I've gotten along without the two of you for every other occasion, so what the hell are you doing here now?" She stood up and folded her arms across her chest, staring expectantly between Kasumi and Jack.

Jack flopped down on the sofa and gave Shepard a wink in return. "Why don't you ask your friend Chambers? She's the one who's trying to get you laid." She drawled the last word out as she stretched along the furniture's length, sighing contentedly.

"Laid? Kelly wants… is that why you two are here pawing through my stuff? To help me pick someone up tonight?" Shepard was up the stairs and on the intercom before Kasumi or Jack could even begin to answer her. "Yeoman Chambers. Can I see you in my quarters?"

Kelly's voice was hesitant over the intercom, as if she knew the jig was up. "Uh… yes, Shepard. I'll be there momentarily."

Shepard strode over to Kasumi, taking the shirt from her. "So, the point is that I wear this, flash my tits around and pick up some guy to shag in the bathroom, right?" She held up the shirt and eyed it critically. "I do like this shirt though. It's comfortable at least."

Kasumi sighed and flopped down on the sofa's left side, stretching her legs out in front of her. "I don't think that anyone has a completely random guy in mind for you, Shepard. That's the gist of things though, yes."

"Not random? Who the hell then? What sorts of rumors are floating around on this ship that I'm not aware of?" Shepard sat on the end of her bed, clutching the shirt in her lap. Her eyes widened as an image flashed into her mind. "Oh shit, don't tell me that everyone thinks that I have the hots for Garrus."

Jack had been rummaging through the magazines on the coffee table in front of her, digging through the pile until her eyes lighted on the one stuffed at the very bottom of the pile. "Don't be stupid, Shepard." She commented, leafing through the pages until she hit the dead center. Her fingers pressed the buttons embedded in the paper as she spoke. "Maybe this will give you a hint."

A holo sprung up from the pages, displaying against the wall above Jack's sprawled form. An adult male drell stood with his back to the camera, head turned in profile and looking off camera to the right. He was a buttery yellow highlighted by vivid teal stripes that crisscrossed his back, following the contours of his musculature. The drell took his time flexing each group of thick muscles, starting with his calves, moving up to his thighs and glutes. There was an audible gasp from someone in the room when the muscles of his ass tightened.

"That's… impressive." Kasumi commented in a hushed voice.

Kelly came slowly down the stairs, looking at them curiously until her eyes lit on the holo. "Oh." She said quietly, watching with the others as the drell in front of them flexed the muscles of his back and shoulders, bringing his arms up and curving the fists towards his head in a classic bodybuilding pose. Turning his head back towards the camera, he flipped a dark-eyed wink and flashed a cheeky grin.

Shepard was determined to take Kelly to task, despite the appeal of the holo. Without taking her eyes off of the centerfold, she spoke. "Kelly, why do I have Jack and Kasumi in my room dressing me for this evening?" She paused for a moment, watching the drell as he shook his limbs and head, relaxing his muscles into their natural state. "Jack started playing this holo for some reason, and we only have one drell on board…"

Her voice trailed off as the drell turned to face the camera. _This is obviously some great galactic joke. _There was no way that a species could be that physically ideal, unless they'd been genetically engineered for that specific reason. _From his pectorals, to his abdomen, to his… _drellhood was the closest she could come to the actual anatomical term. The teal striping highlighted his abdomen, following the striations down in a vivid pattern.

Kelly had sucked in a deep breath when the model had turned, and was now busy hacking up a lung next to her. Shepard patted her on the back a little harder than necessary.

"I'm just trying to help, Shepard. You're both lonely. You like each other. You just need a little push in the right direction." Kelly's voice was raspy when she finally managed to speak.

Jack chuckled. "You know, after this I'm going to be looking at Thane in a brand new light." She hit a few buttons in the magazine and the drell moved over to a nearby chaise, draping across it and stretching like a cat.

"You can't force us into dating or something Kelly. This isn't grade school. I can't just pass him a note that says: _Do you like me? Check yes or no._" Shepard watched as the model took his drellhood in hand and began to stroke at a languid pace. She was up and across the room in an instant, grabbing the magazine from Jack's hands and shutting the holo off. "I can manage the rest by myself, ladies."

Kasumi exited the room with a small smile. Jack paused after standing up from the couch, cocking her head and staring pointedly at the magazine in Shepard's hands. "Can I borrow that for a little bit?" At Shepard's critical look, she groaned. "Jesus, it will come back clean, I swear it. If I just wanted to get off I could find something on the extranet." She snatched the magazine, giving Shepard an irritated look as she exited the room.

Shepard frowned at Kelly, who was still standing in the middle of the room looking chastened. Sighing loudly she stood chucked off her tshirt. "Alright. Help me do something with this mess on my head. I don't know why the hell I'm letting you people talk me into this." She sat on the end of her bed, crossing her legs.

The gleeful look on Kelly's face did nothing to assuage her doubts about the evening. The Yeoman rummaged through the endtable drawer, gathering as many hair fasteners as she could manage. "This is a good idea, Shepard. I've read your psych profile, you know. You haven't been in a proper relationship in seven years."

"You did read the part where my previous boyfriends died, right? It's kind of a running theme." Shepard fidgeted as Kelly pulled her snarl of hair into something resembling a human hairstyle. "Thane unfortunately fits that trend too well."

Kelly sighed behind her. "He's still with us. I trust that someone will fix his Kepral's, in any case." She tugged a lock of Shepard's hair affectionately. "He likes you, Shepard. In the times that I've checked with him after mission he's spoken of you so fondly. It's sweet, actually."

That was Kelly, all sunshine and flowers. Shepard didn't doubt that she was telling the truth, however. The subtle signs had been there for a while, and she'd been busily talking herself out of seeing them. Kepral's would hopefully be less of an issue after she sicced her experts on it; which reminded her that she needed to see Mordin before heading off of the ship.

"Alright, Chambers. So what do I do? I'm a bit out of practice with this stuff."

**oOo**

Shepard's head was full of the tips that Kelly had given her before leaving to see Mordin. _Be yourself. Smile. Flirt a little, but don't be obnoxious about it. Tell him that you're interested. Don't spill your drink all over him or start a barfight. _It sounded far more complicated than Kelly had made it out to be, especially considering her tendency to trip over herself in social settings. She glanced at her reflection in the elevator before getting walking onto the CIC deck. Her hair actually looked nice up and out of the way, and Kelly had managed to style the curls into little corkscrews. The shirt was flattering as well.

She entered the Tech Lab with a spring in her step. "Mordin! I need to talk to you."

Mordin greeted her with a nod and a small smile, pulling up the omni tool on his wrist. "Shepard. Been wanting to talk to you too. Much to discuss. Interesting developments."

Shepard looked up at the corners of the room questioningly, hoping that he'd get her meaning. The original schematics of the ship had listed some twenty-odd bugs in the Tech Lab alone, but she'd forgotten to bring it with her.

"Hmph. Bugs are removed. Have been for months. Told you this when I boarded the ship. Forgot." He looked at her critically, and then continued. "Miranda sent me Lazarus data. Had to break the encryption, took several hours, but data is very interesting. Cybernetic diagrams. Nanite schematics. Detailed programs. Progress logs. Much to read."

Shepard leaned over his desk, resting her arms on the table. "Did Miranda mention that I wanted to adapt this to halt the spread of Thane's Kepral's? Do you think that's possible?"

Mordin grew animated, striding back and forth behind the desk as he did when excited by a topic. "Possible? Yes, possibilities for Lazarus data significant. Will need samples. Tissue, blood, bodily secretions. Both subjects." He stopped and looked at Shepard, tapping his chin. "Nanites from your body can be tested, reprogrammed. Put into Thane's samples to reconstruct cells. Given time, DNA can be modified, improved."

"Can I give the samples now?" The excitement was catching. Between her conversation with Chakwas and Tali, the data from Miranda and this talk with Mordin, she was beginning to feel pretty good about Thane's chances.

Mordin nodded, striding to his table to pick up the necessary implements. He gestured for her to sit in the chair when he returned and jabbed her in the fleshier part of the arm without ceremony. "Blood sample first. Easiest "

The next step was a mouth swab, which was considerably more comfortable. "You'll consult with Dr. Chakwas and Tali on this, right?" She rubbed her upper arm.

"Have sent Chakwas and Tali encrypted data. Will share samples with Chakwas after culturing." He was holding something that looked like a long needle in his hand. "Turn around."

She pointed at the needle in his hand. "What is that? Where the hell do you plan on putting it?"

Mordin huffed impatiently at her. "Biopsy needle for tissue sample. Tissue densest in human buttocks."

Her arms crossed defensively over her chest. "You want to stick that thing in my ass?"

The salarian turned towards his terminal, setting the needle down beside it and stepping up to work. "Don't want to help Thane, don't give tissue. Simple."

_Fuuuuuck. _She knew she had to do this, but that didn't make the prospect of having that thing take a chunk out of her ass any more appealing. "Damnit, Mordin, just get it over with." Turning, she unzipped her jeans and dropped trough. _At least salarians are essentially asexual._

Shepard stared out the window, looking at the busy Citadel port as Mordin jabbed her ass quickly, extracting what felt like a pound of flesh from her bottom. Her only consolation was that Thane would have to go through the process as well, and his ass was much less fleshy.

Mordin stopped her as she was going to pull up her jeans. "Wait. Medi gel will help with healing." He swabbed some on the wound with quick efficiency; she felt the cool gel working in an instant. As she stood, he commented. "Drell males find wide hips and ample buttocks appealing."

"What?" Zipping her pants quickly, she turned to look at him. "I'm not a drell female, Mordin. In case you didn't notice." She could feel herself blushing. Stupid human reactions.

He looked at her appraisingly. "No head ridges. Striping absent. Freckles not equivalent to speckles. Outfit emphasizes hips and buttocks. Should be sufficient." The salarian gave a little nod as he said this, as if he were giving her the drell seal of approval. "Enjoy, Shepard."

"Yeah." She hesitated, and then shook her head. "Thanks, Mordin. I think." She headed to the Dark Star; safe in the knowledge that Thane was no match for her deadly combination of hips and buttocks.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks to Katerina Kintari, as always for putting up with my whinging and reading over my crud (her stuff is also excellent, so give it a read). Also, many thanks to NSAS for inspiring me to new heights of stupid with their silliness.**


	7. Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting

_Someone said true love was dead, but I'm bound to fall. Bound to fall for you. What can I do? _

_Tighten Up – The Black Keys_

* * *

Thane sat in the quiet solitude of life support, sipping tea from the mug that always graced the left hand side of the table. The time was growing late, but he still had a few moments to relax before leaving the Normandy for the Dark Star and his date with Shepard. His thoughts turned to her, as they had with increasing frequency in recent times.

_Shepard sits across the table, knees pulled to her chest. She rocks with laughter, her rich red hair spilling across her warm brown eyes. Her colors remind him of the landscapes of Rakhana, pieces that he's seen only in pictures. He feels the corners of his mouth curve upward as she laughs; the urge to join her bubbles in his chest._

His feelings for her had evolved over his time on the Normandy. At first he'd felt a hesitant respect, which had quickly slipped in to a comfortable enjoyment of her company, as she'd come to visit him at regular intervals. She had become a friend, his first in a great while, and he found himself sharing thoughts and ideas in a way that he was not accustomed. There had been no one since Irikah that had engaged him so thoroughly.

Now he was faced with a conundrum; did he tell Shepard of his affection for her? Thane wasn't entirely certain that she shared his feelings; Shepard spent a significant amount of time in life support, but no more than she spent with the turian or the quarian who were undoubtedly considered friends.

He turned as he heard the swish of the doors, expecting to see Shepard rounding the corner. The brightly smiling face of Yeoman Chambers was unexpected at best.

"Hello, Thane." Kelly gestured at the chair across from him. "May I sit?"

He hesitated for a moment. Thoughts of Shepard in the chair flashed through his mind again; irrationally, he thought of it as 'Shepard's chair'. Thane pushed these thoughts to the back of his mind and motioned at the chair. "Please, Miss Chambers."

"Thank you." The Yeoman sat for a moment, thumbing the side of her datapad, an action that Thane recognized as nervous behavior.

"Will you be going to the Dark Star with the rest of the crew this evening?" Thane was not particularly skilled with idle banter, but he liked Yeoman Chambers. Anything that would put her at ease would also get them to the reason for her visit more quickly. He found that he was very interested in discovering this reason.

Kelly nodded, putting the datapad to the side to place her hands on the table. "Yes. I've just come from Shepard's room. Helping her to find something suitable for the Dark Star. She has nearly nothing that isn't made of t-shirt material or metal." She looked at him for a moment, her expression indiscernible. "We talked about you as well."

He was surprised by his reaction to this statement; the subtle increase in his pulse rate, the clenching of his gut. Visceral reactions. He could imagine her as she spoke about him; the slight curve of her lips as she smiled, the way that she twisted a strand of hair around her finger when she was nervous. It was ridiculous. He was ridiculous. He let none of it show to the woman seated in front of him, merely nodding his head.

"Jack and Kasumi were there when I first arrived. They were all watching a video from Fornax." He raised his eye ridge curiously at this. "It was a drell male… naked… demonstrating… well, it was interesting." Kelly was turning a delicate shade of pink, a human reaction that Thane could identify as blushing, usually caused by embarrassment. "When the others left, I asked her about you. She's interested in you."

He had suspected that Shepard was watching something involving a drell when he'd walked into her cabin earlier that day. The fact that she was curious about drell physiology was certainly arousing; it was a feeling that he pushed aside for a more appropriate time. "Please continue, Miss Chambers. You can speak freely."

She looked a bit relieved at this statement. "Shepard likes you. Not just as a friend, though I realize that you've become friends in the time that you've been with us." Her eyes searched Thane's face as she continued. "She's interested in you, romantically, I guess you would say."

"Shepard has given me no indication of interest beyond our friendship, Miss Chambers. Why are you here, instead of her?"

The Yeoman winced a bit at that statement. "It's a bit complicated, Thane. Let's just say that she has a less than satisfactory history with personal relationships. She'll tell you herself, I'm sure." She drummed her fingers on the table. "I'm probably being presumptuous, but I get the feeling that you are interested too. As a trained observer, my feelings are rarely wrong."

Thane chuckled. They were hardly close enough for her to make such an observation, but he couldn't deny the accuracy. Still, it was not something that he would discuss in any depth with her. "It is presumptuous. If your theory holds any validity, I'd be better off discussing it directly with Shepard, don't you think?" He leaned forward, placing his chin on this fisted hands. "However, I think that is precisely what you came here to suggest."

"I feel like I owe Shepard. She's been good to the crew, despite our connections with Cerberus. Shepard doesn't ask for anything that she isn't willing to give in return." Kelly tucked her hair behind her ear and looked chagrined. "This probably all sounds like a bunch of psychobabble to you, if drell even have anything akin to psychology." She stood and picked up her datapad. "You can do with this what you will."

He turned as she began to walk towards the door. "Miss Chambers?" She paused to look at him. "I understand that your advice is well meant. Thank you." Kelly nodded and flashed him a brief, but brilliant, smile.

Sitting back, he drained the rest of his tea from the mug and contemplated. The timing was absolutely absurd; they were on a mission from which they would possibly never return. If he wasn't killed during the mission, there was every chance that he would die within the next twelve months.

Yet he couldn't stop thinking about her, and she apparently thought of him along much the same lines. Emotions didn't follow logical conventions. They didn't care about appropriate timing or inter-species barriers. Would it be better not to act and have to live with that regret to the end of his days, however long that might be?

His course decided, Thane stood and exited life support, heading off of the Normandy and through the crowds of the Citadel.

**oOo**

The Dark Star was already boisterous when Shepard arrived a few hours later. In order to attract female clientele of a species other than asari, the owner had declared Wednesday night "Citadel Ladies Night". The tagline read "Ladies of any multi-gendered species drink free!", which was causing some serious grumbling from the asari behind her. Shepard could empathize, but it didn't change the fact that you couldn't swing your arms anywhere on the Citadel without hitting at least five asari in the process.

Shepard hauled at the thin straps to her shirt for the fiftieth time that hour, trying to subtly adjust her chest in the strapless bra. The ability to free her breasts had been almost liberating; since she'd been working with Cerberus she'd been able to forgo the "Iron Maidens", as the military issue bras were less than affectionately termed. The Lazarus Project had restored her chest to a vitality that it hadn't possessed since her early twenties. They were perky and gravity defiant; at this current moment they were peeking out of the top of her shirt like two prisoners ready to scale the fence.

Kasumi saw her enter and waved her over to the corner, where fifty percent of the Normandy crew was crowded around several tables that had been crammed together. A few appreciative glances from some of the male crew made her feel a bit better about her pinned up hair and exposed cleavage. Thane was on the far side of the table, giving her an inscrutable look, and she attempted to edge her way around to his side, chatting with crew as she went.

Jack and Zaeed intercepted her approach, hauling her bodily towards the bar over her attempted protests. "You're several drinks behind, Shepard." Zaeed drawled, leaning over and shouting an order into the turian bartender's ear. "Fortunately for you I know of a drink that'll put you ahead in one sip."

Shepard wasn't sure what was in the drink that Zaeed had bought her, but she sure as hell wasn't going to puss out on drinking it while he was watching. She took as large a sip as she could handle, and bit back the grimace as a taste that she could only describe as "testicle sweat" slid down the back of her throat. An unfortunate incident early on her military career had familiarized her with that particular taste, and she had hoped to never experience it again. Forcing a smile onto her face, she tipped the glass at Zaeed and nodded; he returned the nod with a knowing smirk and she felt the irrational urge to punch him in the jaw yet again.

Rather than giving in to the urge, she turned in a half circle and headed toward the crew table. Jack and Garrus were embroiled in a highly competitive drinking contest, apparently moderated by Joker. Jacob and Thane were deep in conversation, which pleased her immensely. She jumped over the top of the booth, seating herself between Thane and Tali; the quarian was watching the contest with interest, sipping on a drink through a tube in her ventilator. She pointed at the bright purple drink in Shepard's hand.

"What is that, Shepard? The color looks… wrong."

Shepard picked it up and examined it closely. "It's a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, according to Zaeed. He dared me to drink one." Shrugging, she picked it up and clinked her glass against Tali's. "Here's to not dying a second time!"

**oOo**

Thane was watching from the corner of his eye during this exchange. The color of the drink was familiar, but it took a moment for him to sift through his memories for the appropriate scene. For once, his reflexes were too slow by a hair and he just missed pulling the glass from her hand.

Jacob looked at him curiously. "Something wrong?"

He frowned as he looked at Shepard. "That particular drink is the result of many years of experimentation. It's intended to inebriate elcor." Shepard's cheeks were already rosy from the suffusion of alcohol in her system.

"Shit." The operative cursed under his breath, shifting in his seat to examine Shepard more closely. "Should we make her puke?"

A booming voice intoned over the house speakers. "Exuberant jocularity. Now is the time for all of the sexy ladies and the studly gentleman to take the floor and boogie till you drop." Jacob snorted next to him as the music started pounding, vibrating the table underneath them with its resounding bass.

His eyes moved back to Shepard, who was carrying on an animated conversation with a bewildered Tali. She was listing slightly, unable to maintain her balance. Thane suspected that her cybernetic makeup was probably taking most of the punch out of the drink, but she was definitely very tipsy.

When he turned back to answer Jacob, he saw that Kasumi was leaning over to whisper something in his ear. The interpersonal dynamics on the Normandy were endlessly fascinating to him. He'd spent the previous ten years in self-imposed isolation, interacting in brief spurts with others.

Jacob turned to him as Kasumi turned to walk away, flicking his eyes at Shepard. "Will she be alright?"

"I'll watch her, Mr. Taylor. Go enjoy yourself."

The human grinned as he stood. "Mr. Taylor is… was my father. I'm just Jacob." He gripped Thane's shoulder briefly, a human gesture of friendliness. "Take good care of Shepard. She's a damned fine woman, though a little on the stupidly impulsive side." There was no mistaking the intent of Jacob's wink as he turned and walked away from the table.

As he was speaking to Jacob, Shepard had scooted close enough that he could feel the warmth of her hip pressed against his. She smiled sweetly at him, leaning her chin into the palm of her hand. "Hi, Thane. I'm glad you're here."

Her scent, the clean, sharp smell of lemons, filled the air around them. The corner of his lip quirked in a small smile as he breathed her in; he had taken to adding lemon to his evening tea, in large part due to her. "Of course I'm here. I wouldn't miss a date."

"A date? Huh." She twirled a piece of her hair absently around her finger as she looked at him, her smile never wavering. "I wonder if the drell definition of a date is the same as the human definition of a date?"

Thane observed the signs; the slight lean of her shoulder towards him, the drop of tone in her voice, the increased flush to her skin. As a relatively rare and exotic species, he'd been subject to more than his fair share of flirting. He'd become very practiced at dodging unwanted advances without ill feelings. However, he'd had nearly no practice in returning the gesture. His flirting ability was subpar; he would have to go with honesty in response.

He cleared his throat softly. "Drell date much as humans do. This outing with the Normandy crew would classify as a friendly date." Shepard's shoulder slumped perceptibly, her gaze dropping to the table._ This will not do._ "There are also romantic dates." He took her free hand in his, stroking the palm with his thumb. "I intended our date to be the latter."

The skin under his fingers was warm and smooth. She stared at him for a moment and he could see comprehension dawn in many ways, from the blush creeping across her cheeks to the flutter of her eyelashes as she averted her eyes. "Thane." Her voice was hesitant, but her fingers wound their way around his hand as she spoke, gripping it firmly. "Why me? After so many years you find someone like me appealing? I don't see…"

Perhaps he should have found it strange that a woman who pursued danger with such confidence could be so unsure when it came to romantic entanglements. He had spent a great deal of time compartmentalizing his emotions in that way, however. Heavy responsibility often necessitated emotional distance.

"This is a less than ideal setting for discussing my reasoning, siha." Thane lifted her chin with the fingers of his free hand, leveling her gaze with his. "Suffice to say that my intentions towards you are… affectionate. Should I pursue them?" He felt exposed and vulnerable as he awaited her reaction. Longfellow came to mind; _Talk not of wasted affection; affection never was wasted._

She chewed her bottom lip as she looked at him, worrying it with her teeth until it was plump and pink. The simple action made his pulse race and he offered a silent prayer to Arashu to save him from his own foolishness. "I feel the same." He could feel the thrum of her accelerated pulse under his fingers and knew that their feelings were in synch.

"We should discuss this further. Somewhere more private, and quieter." The pounding of the music made it difficult to hear. It was not the place to discuss newly revealed feelings, unless those feelings were comprised solely of lust. He took her hand as they rose from the table and began to wend through the now crowded club.

**oOo**

Shepard gripped his hand as he led her through the crowd, more sober than when she'd entered the Dark Star hours before. Kelly had been right, but she was too elated to be bothered by that fact at the moment. She still had misgivings, but with some time and effort maybe… Her biggest concern now was keeping herself from doing something embarrassing on their first date. They would have to take this slowly; as crewmates they had a responsibility to the other members and a botched relationship wouldn't make missions go more smoothly.

They were stopped behind a glut of aliens near the bar, apparently due to an argument between the turian bartender and another turian over drink prices. She tuned it out, concentrating on the feel of his hand around hers. His skin was softer than she'd expected, though she could feel the irregularities of the scales as they rubbed against her hand. The closest equivalent she could imagine was a chamois cloth, and she wondered absurdly if he was good for buffing.

"Hmm… you don't see many drell on the Citadel. It's a shame, really. Such a lovely species." The sultry voice belonged to an asari standing in the shadows just to their right. As she spoke she approached, swinging her ample hips in an exaggerated fashion. She touched his arm lightly as she spoke, fluttering her eyelashes as she spoke. "What's your name, gorgeous?"

Thane was quite busy imitating a statue as the asari rubbed his arm, so Shepard decided to interject. "Oh yeah, don't mind me or anything. Just pretend that I'm not even here."

The asari flicked her an annoyed glance, her lavender eyes narrowing. "That shouldn't be a problem. Move along." She flipped a hand in Shepard's direction as if shooing her away.

_Oh hell no!_ Her blood was buzzing with alcohol and her brain was fuzzy, but she knew a serious bitch when she saw one. A serious bitch who was putting the moves on a man that she had just been on the verge of snogging. She leaned toward the asari, growling. "I'd like to see you make me move along."

The drell moved deliberately, pushing the two women apart with his arms. "Madam." He addressed the asari on his right, tilting his head towards her. "I appreciate your interest, but I'm already spoken for. Perhaps it would be best for you to leave."

"You're turning me down for _her_?" The asari's tinkling laughter grated on Shepard's already jangly nerves.

Shepard pushed against Thane's arm. "Let me hit her. Just once." His arm held firm, much to her dismay.

The blue skinned woman opened her mouth to speak, but she was interrupted by a loud voice emanating from an area somewhere in the vicinity of the dance floor. "What the fuck is going on, Arana?"

"Shit!" The asari moved back quickly, smoothing down her clothes. "I'm sorry." A guilty look flashed over the woman's face, but she covered it quickly.

A pissed off turian was stalking towards them, a buddy in tow. He stopped a few feet short of them, glaring at each one in turn, but finally settling on Thane. "Are you putting the moves on my girlfriend, froggy?" His mandibles flared in an agitated manner as he spoke.

"Toran, nothing happened. We were just passing by each other…" The asari's voice trailed off unconvincingly as she looked up at her boyfriend, suddenly contrite.

Even in her less than lucid state Shepard could see that the turian was three sheets to the wind. As she gripped Thane's arms, she could feel the muscles in it tense, but he betrayed none of this to the irate turian, keeping his face carefully blank as he returned his gaze steadily. When he spoke, his voice was utterly calm.

"The lady bumped into us on our way to the dance floor and was merely apologizing." Thane indicated the asari across from them with a brief nod of his head, careful not to make any sudden or aggressive moves.

The turian poked his girlfriend on the shoulder hard enough to make Shepard wince. "That true, Arana? Did you bump into these assholes?"

As the asari rubbed her shoulder and made her excuses, Thane pulled her closer, murmuring in her ear. "Be ready. Do as I say, when I say."

Turning to his friend, Toran spoke loudly enough for everyone in a several foot diameter to hear, despite the pounding beat of the techno music. "So, Xav, should I believe my woman and let them go?"

"Fuck 'em, Toran, let's kick their asses. I've never met a drell that I've liked." Toran laughed loudly in response to this, cracking the bones in his taloned hand as he turned.

Thane murmured once again. "There are two behind you. Be ready." He gripped her arm and they stood stock still for a moment until he commanded. "Down!"

Things happened in rapid succession after that. Shepard moved to a crouch with him as two sets of hands met over their head, crashing into each other with a loud smack. He spoke quickly in her ear. "Turn your back to me and stay close. One batarian and one turian behind you. Go for the knees on the turian and the groin on the batarian. Strike quickly."

Shepard barely thought as she sprang to a standing position, facing away from Thane and towards her two attackers. The fuzzy feeling was gone, the alcohol replaced by adrenaline surging through her system. The batarian was looking at her with surprised outrage; she gave him a smile and a boot to the groin. As the batarian fell to the ground clutching his delicates, she glared at the turian behind him, who was looking a lot less cocky than he had a second before.

He returned her glare for a second, and then came at her swiftly, long legs pumping. She met his advancing leg with her own, the flat of her left foot crashing into his right knee with a resounding crack. His knee caved in and he dropped to the floor with a high-pitched scream.

She whirled around to see Thane hit one turian, the friend she thought, in the unplated portion of his torso with a fisted jab. Toran was wavering several feet away, his face and upper torso covered in blue tinged cuts. The friend leaned forward, absorbing the impact of the strike, and Thane knocked him down with a quick chop to the back of his neck.

The batarian's fist caught her unawares, boxing her in the ear with enough impact to make it ring. "Fuck!" She yelled, clutching her ear and turning to swing wildly at her attacker, who easily dodged her clumsy swing. She saw the fist coming at her from above as she stumbled to the side, and lifted her arm to weakly block. The fist never reached her because Thane appeared at her side like a vengeful wraith, knocking the first harmlessly to the side with a sweep of one arm and jabbing the top set of the batarians eyes with the other. Before the batarian could do more than flail at his eyes, the drell's free hand balled into a fist and punched the batarian in the throat, followed quickly by the sharp point of his elbow to the ugly bastard's temple.

"Are you alright?" Thane's fingers ghosted over her face, checking her ears and throat for good measure. "Minor abrasions." He announced. "You'll survive." He gave her a small smile before turning back to Toran, who had staggered to a standing position and was holding his hands out in front of him in a placating manner.

As Thane walked over to deal with the recalcitrant turian, Shepard looked around at the gaping Dark Star club goers. Garrus and Jack were off to her immediate left, looking alert and vaguely murderous, in Jack's case at least. "Thanks for the help, guys." She quipped, slouching across to lean on the bar.

Jack appeared at her elbow, grinning. "I thought a big fucking hero like you could handle a couple of aliens, Shepard. You fight like ass up close."

"Thanks." Shepard muttered, wincing as Garrus touched her boxed ear with his gloved talons.

"No bleeding," Garrus commented, leaning on the bar next to her, "I don't think it'll fall off." He shook his head and chuckled, mandibles jiggling. "Jack's right though, you really are terrible at hand to hand."

Shepard motioned to the bartender, yelling for some ice wrapped in a towel. The bar had swung back into its regular rhythm, music pounding and aliens chattering loudly. "You're a true friend, Garrus. I'm lucky to have you around to point out each and every flaw." She gave the bartender a nod as he handed her the towel, and she placed it gingerly against her right ear.

Garrus gave her a grin. "I could give you some lessons, you know. You don't leave the turian military without unarmed combat skills." He glanced back at Thane, who had finished with the turian and was turning to head towards them. "Though I have to admit that Krios fights with more style."

"Screw that, Scarface." Jack leaned back against the bar, her eyes focused on Thane, who was within hearing distance. "The drell will give her hand to hand lessons. Won't you, Krios?" She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow in a suggestive manner.

Thane stopped in front of Shepard, moving the hand holding the ice gently away from her ear and turning her face so that he could examine the wound more closely. "I would be honored to give Shepard lessons." His thumb lingered on her cheek for just a second too long. "Unless you have an objection, Sere Vakarian?"

_Add freakishly good hearing to his list of skills._ Shepard noted. She hardly paid attention to the short conversation between Garrus and Thane because she was too busy noticing Thane's hand, which was resting on the small of her back. It was warm, and she found herself wishing that she'd worn something midriff baring.

The gentle pressure of his hand on her back startled her out of her reverie. "Let me take you back to the ship. We should have Dr. Chakwas look at your ear, just as a precaution." Thane's hand never left her as they walked through the Citadel and back to the Normandy.

* * *

**A/N: I completely forgot to thank everyone for reviewing/favoriting/alerting last time around, so I apologize. Seriously, it's always exciting to see the notification pop up in gmail. Thanks to Katerina Kintari for her endless patience and all around wonderful editing/suggestions (her writing is amazing, and everyone should give it a read). Again, thanks to NSAS for the hilarity and spectacular art/writing. **


	8. Love My Way

_And it's been awhile since we dropped our guard and cracked a smile. Don't you think it's overdue?_

_Truly, Truly – Grant Lee Buffalo_

* * *

Shepard woke up to Mordin's voice on the comm. in her room. "Shepard. Come to the lab. Quickly." His voice came in short, stabbing bursts, slicing into her fuzzy brain like a knife of icy _awakeness_. She groaned and lifted her head from the damp spot on her pillow, gagging when she realized that she had been resting her head in a puddle of her own drool. "Bring Thane. Need samples from him. Must collate." Only Mordin could make the word _collate_ sound vaguely dirty.

She turned her head to the other side and tried to focus her eyes on the digital display, which read 0700. Mordin would think that early morning after an evening's shore leave was an appropriate time to wake someone. Her mouth opened and something resembling "Unghhhherghhha" came tumbling out. "Chakwas is here. Will expect you soon." Mordin's voice continued, as if she'd just given him a recognizable answer.

The mention of Chakwas made her sit straight up in bed; she was suddenly completely alert, aside from the throbbing headache. The memories of last night were flooding back, very unfortunately in her opinion. Thane had taken her to Chakwas, who had examined her ear. The batarian had done more than just box her ear; he'd had something thin and sharp that had evidently punctured her eardrum. The flood of adrenaline had kept the worst of the pain at bay, but Chakwas' less than gentle poking had hurt like a bitch.

To make it worse, Chakwas had been chiding her the entire time about her lack of physical combat skill. "How you managed to graduate from boot camp without any hand to hand skill is beyond me." The statement rang in her ears, as if the doctor was standing right next to her. Shepard had tried to point out that she had been proficient at hand to hand after graduation, but years of engineering school and command positions had dulled her skills. Thane's gentle assurance that he would help Shepard to redevelop the skills had somewhat mollified the rankled physician.

Chakwas had given her a shot before repairing her eardrum, and things got a bit fuzzy afterwards. She remembered the pain dulling nearly instantly, and getting vertical on one of the sick beds. Thane had held her hand while Chakwas operated, and she could recall rubbing her fingers over the glistening green scales; it was also possible that she tried to count them individually. When the anesthetic had kicked in she'd started imagining any number of things, including Thane's tongue in her ear, long and slithery, flapping over her punctured eardrum and healing it with it's magical fluids.

She'd thanked him profusely on the way back to her room, complimenting his tongue on its reach and flexibility. From what she could remember he had been a perfect gentleman about the whole thing, despite her inane babbling. Her memory got fuzzy around the time that they entered her cabin; in fact, she didn't remember getting into bed.

Looking down, she noted that she was wearing a tank top and shorts, her customary bedtime apparel. Someone had undressed her and tucked her in, at some point in time. Before she could decide how she felt about it, the door to her cabin _swished_ open and Thane walked in, carrying a mug in one hand and a vial of brown liquid in another.

"Good morning, siha." His wonderful lips were curved into a smile, and she couldn't help but return it, despite the dull pulse of the headache behind her eyes. He seated himself on the edge of the bed, placing the mug on the end table. Fingers brushed over her right ear, pushing the hair behind it with a gentle sweeping motion. "How is your ear faring today?"

She prodded it tenderly with her finger. "Honestly? It doesn't feel like I had a sharp implement shoved into it less than ten hours ago." The hair slid back into place when she shook her head experimentally. "Now if I could just get rid of this damned hangover…"

Thane placed the mug in her hands. "This will help." He uncorked the vial in his other hand and poured it into the steaming mug. "Dr. Chakwas gave this to me. She says that it will counteract the worst of your drunken foolishness." The straight-faced manner in which he delivered the admonishment was perfect.

"Wonderful." Shepard snorted and brought the mug to her lips, drinking the hot beverage in careful sips. They sat in silence for a few moments as she imbibed. "So," she began in a careful tone, "did you get me ready for bed last night?"

He tilted his head and regarded her carefully. "Would it bother you, siha?"

She gave it a moment of consideration before answering. "I would prefer to be coherent while being undressed by you." Her face flushed as she said this, and she stared down into her mug. "I'm not upset though." The blushing was absolutely ridiculous; she hadn't blushed that deeply since she was a stupid teenage girl mooning over her classmate.

"I would also prefer that you were coherent while I undressed you." He took the mug from her hands and placed it to the side, taking her hands in his. "Dr. Chakwas readied you for bed. I simply tucked you in when she was finished." When she looked up at him again, he squeezed her hands gently. "I believe that we should establish some ground rules for this relationship. While I am familiar with humans, I'm unfamiliar with their courtship rituals."

Chuckling, Shepard reciprocated with a gentle squeeze from her hands. "You are my first drell." Shaking her head, she laughed. "That came out sounding like a horrible innuendo. I know nothing about drell culture or biology, other than what I've seen in vids."

"Videos… hmmm?" Thane cocked his head and looked at her curiously. "You will have to expand on that topic, siha. I would like to know what you've seen." There was an underlying tone to his last statement, one that caused a rather pleasant shiver to run up her neck.

He had moved ever so subtly closer to her at some point in time; his knee was now touching hers and he was closer, his mouth well within casual kissing distance. She _wanted _to kiss him, very much so, she realized. Another part of her brain was insisting that she hadn't yet brushed her teeth or showered, and that both her mouth and skin must smell like a bar brawl. She ran her tongue over her teeth experimentally and cringed at the taste of day old alcohol and the fuzz of sleep.

Shepard withdrew her hands from his reluctantly, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. "I'll tell you what, Sere Krios. You let me take a shower and brush my teeth, then follow me to Mordin's lab. Sometime before Bekenstein we'll have a private dinner here in my cabin and compare notes on drell and human biology." She planted a kiss on the side of his facial ridges. "I promise to reveal all of my sources."

Thane grinned at this, and she decided in that instant to do whatever it took to get him to smile that way as often as possible. "As you wish, siha."

_Siha again._ As she made her way to the shower, she threw the question back at him. "Does that mean something like 'baby' or 'sweetheart' or 'bootycakes' in drellish?" Her translator had neglected to provide an equivalent for the word, so she suspected it was a fairly complex term of endearment.

His deep, throaty voice penetrated through the door with his reply. "I'll explain the meaning when you define 'bootycakes' for me."

Shepard showered and brushed in short order, feeling renewed as she stepped back into her room in fresh clothing. A drell assassin was lounging on her bed, leather jacket folded neatly next to him. His hands were folded neatly on his chest, and the bold green and black of him was a stark contrast to the white of her covers. It was difficult to imagine him actually falling asleep in the twenty minutes that she'd taken to freshen up, but he was at least dozing, with both sets of eyelids closed.

She approached him quietly, though she was sure that he was a light sleeper. He looked completely at ease on her bed, and she found herself admiring the visible parts of his skin. The black striping on his arms followed the striation of his muscles, much like the yellow drell from the Fornax video. Her higher mind was busy listing things that needed to be done as she half sat on the bed, tracing the length of his fused fingers.

Her fingers moved from his hand to his forehead, stroking the dark patch of black above his eyes. It reminded her of a bindi, though far larger and hexagonal in shape. The scales on his face were larger, merging into the ridges that crested the top of his head. It was so foreign, but so lovely nonetheless. She heard him sigh as her fingertips moved over the ridges, dotted with bold black patches. As he'd made no move to stop her, her hand drifted to the frills on the side of his cheeks, rubbing the vibrant red ribbing, which was far softer than it looked.

His lips were last, though she'd been thinking about them ever since she'd touched his hands. With her thumb, she touched his top lip, tracing the perfect bow. They were the most flawlessly symmetrical lips that she'd ever seen, like something painted by Michelangelo. The skin was soft and unscaled, bare like hers, and warm to the touch. She could feel the rumbling purr coming from his throat as she moved over his bottom lip.

"Siha." He murmured, grasping her hand in his and pressing a kiss to her palm, and then to her wrist. "I thought that we were going to talk before proceeding." He punctuated each word with a kiss on the inside of her arm, up past the bend of her elbow.

Thane sat up on one elbow, meeting her halfway as he pulled her down to him. "May I kiss you?" He murmured, his hand drifting into her hair and sifting through her curls.

It was the most romantic thing that any potential suitor had ever said to her, and she felt her heart thrumming in her chest as she hesitated for a split second, debating between replying and acting. Her lips brushed his and she decided that would do as a reply. They were hesitant at first; gauging each other's response with lightly placed kisses from every angle possible.

When her tongue darted out to lick his bottom lip, he met it with his own, opening his mouth and drawing her into its warmth. His tongue was more agile than hers, sliding around and gripping hers in a way that she was unable to mimic. She groaned as she withdrew from him, nipping his bottom lip with her teeth as she moved away.

"Thane." She breathed, her voice several registers lower than normal. "I could do this for hours. But…" The thought of those hours was making a pleasant heat build in her stomach; she forced herself to ignore it. "I was hoping that we could take it a little more slowly than that."

He smiled, his hand still tangled in her hair. "It's a wise course of action, despite my current inclinations." They disentangled carefully, and Shepard stood to run a hand through her hair self-consciously. As Thane stood beside her and began to pull on his leather jacket, EDI appeared next to the door. "Tali is here to see you, Shepard."

She glanced at Thane before answering, the slight lift of her eyebrows a silent question. He nodded in answer; she supposed that last night's events were an unofficial indicator of their intentions towards each other, but their activities on the Normandy would be a very official announcement. Tali was not an idle gossip, but their relationship would be noticed. The Illusive Man was going to _love _this new development; she'd have to speak to Miranda about including it prominently in her next status report.

"Let Tali come in, EDI. Thanks." Shepard walked to the upper level to meet Tali, hitting the fish feeder and doing a quick head count on the tank before returning her gaze to the entering quarian. "Hey Tali." She gave her a quick hug. "No worse for the wear from last night?" Guilt was creeping in as she realized that she had absolutely no idea what had happened to Tali after she and Thane had started speaking.

If Tali was offended by her behavior, she gave no indication. "Shepard! I was expecting you to look worse." Tali's eyes busily scanned Shepard, and then lighted on Thane as he approached. "Hello, Thane." The quarian's grin was clearly visible behind the mask, and Shepard could have sworn that Tali threw her a wink.

"Tali." Thane inclined his head in greeting as he stood across from her, clasping his hands behind his back. "I hope that you were untouched by the events in the Dark Star last evening."

Shepard could have kicked herself. She touched the quarian's arm. "I'm sorry Tali, how are you?" Thane was apparently going to have to teach her basic courtesy along with drell sexual habits. _Drell sexual habits… drell sexual… drellsexual._ She was obviously going to have to make a supreme effort to concentrate on what others were saying, at least at this particular moment.

"I can take care of myself, Shepard. You should know that by now." Tali made a flicking motion with her wrist. "By the time I noticed the commotion, the fight was over. You're impressive, Thane. Maybe you can give Shepard some lessons?"

Thane quirked his eye ridge as he looked at Shepard. "Yes. We've been discussing our plans for lessons this morning."

If Shepard could have subtly burst into flames at that moment, she was sure that she would have. Her cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink as she turned back to Tali and cleared her throat. "What did you need Tali? Did Mordin send you up here to haul us down to the lab?"

"Yes." The quarian sighed as she looked at her omni tool. "He's already sent me scans of the nanites in your sample; including the OS and Lazarus routine. Cerberus employs competent programmers, at least." She gestured towards the door. "Come with me."

Mordin was practically hopping when they entered the lab, striding back and forth in front of a tired Dr. Chakwas, who was shaking her head. "Mordin, I had very little sleep last night. Can you slow down for an old woman, please?"

"Nonsense, Chakwas. Information is simple." Mordin harrumphed, gesturing at Shepard and Thane to approach his lab bench. "Have analyzed data on Shepard. Nanites are highly refined. Specialized." His fingers flew over his keyboard as he muttered under his breath.

Finishing, he pulled up his omni-tool and projected an image in front of them. It was an image likely scanned from the petri dish to his right; a bundle of cells were surrounded by several inert nanites. Mordin pushed a few buttons and a small instrument descended from the ceiling, hovering over the dish. A tiny needle, invisible to the naked eye, descended into the dish, stabbing into the group of cells and rending holes in the outer sides.

The nanites swung into action in two separate groups; the first attacked the needle, dragging it away from the cell cluster, and the second began repairing the damaged cells. Mordin watched the controlled chaos approvingly, smiling as the defense nanites sprung a rather impressive array of weaponry from their many limbs. They sawed at the needle with surgical precision, targeting its weak spots. The needle snapped and was consumed by one of the nanites. "They take refuse in the bloodstream. Recycle it somehow. Still investigating." The salarian was beaming at the nanites like they were his progeny.

Shepard glanced at Thane, who was watching the demonstration with great interest. He tapped his fingers on the table, and then turned to her. "This could be of use in more than just my situation, siha."

"As long as no one turns them against you, that is." Chakwas looked at Mordin. "You will examine the code carefully for security holes?"

Mordin ended the holo, closing his omni tool display. "Have given the code to Tali. She will verify security, tweak, optimize."

"If there are holes, Dr. Chakwas, I'll find them." Tali was typing as she spoke, her glowing orange omni tool flashing on her wrist. Shepard had no doubt that she'd ferret out any weaknesses. The quarian was so intimately familiar with all manners of programming and robotics that she probably dreamed in code.

Chakwas stood, grabbing a syringe from the tray on Mordin's desk. "We'll need to take several tissue samples, Mr. Krios." The doctor slipped on a pair of gloves as Shepard eyed the small needle. Chakwas noticed the look. "What, Shepard? You aren't afraid of needles, are you?"

Shepard scoffed as Thane stood next to her. "No. Mordin used a needle ten times as big to take my sample."

"This is the local anesthetic, Shepard." The doctor had a grim look on her face as she turned back to the table and picked up a needle that was several centimeters wider than the instrument of torture that sampled Shepard's ass. "This is the needle that I'll be using for his biopsies."

Thane looked at the needle complacently. "From where will you extract the samples, Doctor?"

Chakwas made a twirling motion with her finger. "I'll be taking one sample from your buttock and one from your lung. I'm afraid that neither will be terribly pleasant for you." Thane continued to look unperturbed, much to Shepard's chagrin. "Drell have tougher skin and a thinner layer of fat than humans, and the needle used for the biopsy has to compensate for those differences." Thane had turned away from the doctor as she spoke; the table blocked the view as he reached for the button at the top of his pants. "Would you like me to send the ladies out of the room, Mr. Krios?"

Tali cleared her throat and turned away as Thane chuckled. "That won't be necessary, Doctor Chakwas. I'm sure that we can trust the ladies to respect my modesty."

Shepard couldn't be completely sure, but she thought that he might have actually winked at her after saying that. She wanted to be about ten feet to her right more than anything else in the world right now. As her mind was busy creating a plausible reason to move from her current location, Thane leaned over the table, exposing his rear quarters to Dr. Chakwas' analgesic.

Mordin was busy at his terminal, which happened to provide a spectacular view of the ensuing sampling. Shepard meandered over, pretending to be deeply interested in Mordin's calculations. She didn't hear a word he said as she smiled and nodded, adjusting her gaze so that Thane's exposed rear filled her right field of vision. It was every bit as lovely as she'd expected, its iridescent green expanse covered in small black bands. The muscles clenched as Chakwas gently inserted the needle, and she stared at him appreciatively as her vision went black.

When she awoke, she was propped in a lab chair, with Thane holding her shoulders to steady her. "You fainted, siha." It was hard to tell whether his eyes held a gleam of amusement or concern. He most certainly knew that she'd been staring at his ass as he was stuck, in any case.

"Very unexpected. Needles cause that reaction in some patients. Would not have suspected you, Shepard." She didn't like the gleeful glint in Mordin's eyes one bit.

Shepard shook her head, trying to clear the groggy feeling. "I don't normally faint at the sight of needles." She mumbled. _Well, this was going to be a bitch to live down._

Dr. Chakwas shone a small light in each eye, verifying the pupil's dilation. "Alright, Shepard. I want you to spend the next twenty-four hours recuperating." She held her hand up as soon as Shepard's mouth began to open. "No arguments… and no _exertive_ activity." The doctor glanced at Thane as she stressed the word; Shepard thought she might pass out again from sheer embarrassment. "We're slated to arrive in Bekenstein in three days. You'll rest until tomorrow. Mandatory." Chakwas looked her over again. "Make sure that Gardner feeds you too. You need to get something in your stomach to counteract alcohol and anesthetic."

"Alright. Going to the mess. Then rest." She was a bit shaky when standing, but she still managed a salute to the doctor, who shook her head and sighed. To her credit, and probably Chakwas' intervention, she managed to eat and get a good night's rest that day. When Thane called her down to the hangar deck the next day, she was almost fit for his proposed agenda.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks again to Katerina Kintari for betaing and listening to me bitch (READ HER STUFF... it's very, very good). Kudos to NSAS for being inspiring and wonderful. Thank you to anyone who reviews/favorites/alerts/reads. I apologize to anyone that I missed replying to in this round of reviews... I honestly try to be good about that.**


	9. Chapter 9 or I messed up

_**Pre A/N: I "fixed" a chapter and through my own stupidity ended up deleting instead of replacing. I have fixed this on the management end, but it does not appear to have reflected on the site yet. This is chapter 9, chronologically speaking, and not chapter 12. If the issue continues, I'll try to get it fixed at some point.**_

_"Something in the way she moves, attracts me like no other lover."_

_Something - The Beatles_

* * *

Thane had instructed her to wear casual clothes and meet him in the room to the left of the hangar bay. The casual clothes were no stretch considering the fact that she typically wore a t-shirt and cotton pants; she opted for a tank top in this particular instance, figuring that the more skin she bared the better. She'd been feeling sort of _wanton_ since the day before, with images of Thane's bare buttocks burned into her mind.

She stopped by to check in with Kelly, and bumped into Garrus as she turned to head back to the elevator, nearly knocking the pile of padding that he was carrying out of his arms. "Hey, Shepard." His growl was teasing as he pressed the call button. "Stop thinking about your new boyfriend and watch where you're going."

Shepard shot him a nasty look as they stepped on to the elevator. "Screw you, Garrus."

He wasn't done yet. "So… I got an e-mail confirming your digital Fornax subscription." Garrus clicked his mandibles in mock chastisement. "Planning on doing some drell watching? I guess you'll need to learn about your new boyfriend's parts if you're going to make things work."

"You know, Garrus, you certainly know a lot about Fornax's video library. It's almost as if you're a subscriber yourself." Turning, she leaned against the interior railing, crossing her arms over her abdomen and relaxing.

Garrus chuckled. "Of course I read Fornax, Shepard. I am male, in case you haven't noticed. If there is one cross species trait across the galaxy, it's that males will seek out naked members of their species in any format they can manage." He was oozing male pride at this statement, which got right under Shepard's skin.

"So I'm guessing that you don't read it for the articles?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "Does it serve as 'inspirational material'?

It was Garrus's turn to eye her, mimicking her casual lean on the bar across the elevator from her. Elevator rides on the Normandy were a lengthy affair. "Are you seriously asking about my masturbatory habits, Shepard? I consider you a friend, a damned good friend, but I'm not sure that we need to share every little detail."

Shepard was fairly sure that she didn't know of one other male onboard with whom she could casually discuss sexual habits. Thane hardly counted, as she was sure that the discussion would be taking a far divergent path from the one she was currently engaged in.

"No, I'm not asking how often you wax the spur, Garrus. I'm wondering how long it's been. Since you had a willing participant who wasn't attached to the end of your arm, that is."

The turian paused for a moment, tilting his head and muttering under his breath. He rolled his eyes to the ceiling and tapped his foot rhythmically against the floor. She assumed he was angry until she heard him counting under his breath. "Twenty-nine months, three weeks, four days and sixteen hours, give or take a few minutes." He grinned. "Not that I'm keeping track."

It suddenly dawned on Shepard that she knew very little about Garrus's personal life. He wasn't a girlfriend, and she wasn't the slumber party type, but she still had an interest in what made her closest friends what they were. In addition, she was hoping that she could turn the information to her advantage in some way. Garrus was still on her shit list for Fornax.

"Was she another C-Sec Officer? Or someone else entirely?"

"I met her while investigating something involving Sha'ira." He looked at Shepard's frown. "Yes, she was an asari. I am a stereotypical male. I get it… I get it."

She shook her head. "Putting aside my disappointment at you falling for a member of the galaxy's masturbatory fantasy race, why did it end? Did she drop you for an elcor? A volus?" Shepard paused for dramatic effect. "A vorcha?"

"Gah!" Garrus spat. "Really, Shepard?" He straightened up and arranged the pads in his arms again. "I'll tell you the whole story one day, if you want to hear it. She left me though; that's the short version."

The elevator dinged as it deposited them on the hangar deck. They could hear the gathered crew before they reached the door. The room was half as large as the hangar bay itself, which made it a roughly thirty by thirty square. Someone had stacked the cargo crates along the walls, leaving an open area in the center. There were red mats along the floor, the type of mats that were standard in military gyms, firm and lightly cushioned.

Thane stood in the center, dressed in a sleeveless bodysuit that was probably designed for ease of movement. She was sure that Thane would be moving very comfortably indeed, but it was going to be difficult to concentrate on anything other than the shape of his well-formed thighs while she was in viewing distance. Miranda's voice to her left distracted her temporarily.

"I hear from my sources that Mordin has already started work on the Kepral's issue." Miranda was wearing a casual outfit for once; a tank top and shorts in red and navy, distinctly non-Cerberus colors.

Shepard gave her a curious look. "Isn't Mordin one of your sources?"

"He is. His e-mail updates are truly interesting reads, if a little difficult to decipher." Miranda gave her a wry smile.

"I can't even imagine what his e-mails are like. I prefer the up close and personal approach with Mordin." Shepard laughed, and then grabbed Miranda's shoulder as it hit her. "Miranda, I don't know if I properly thanked you for what you've done. We didn't get off to a great start, like you said, but you're alright underneath all of that Cerberus bluster." She punched Miranda lightly, then withdrew her hand..

Miranda flashed her a grin. "That's positively sappy for you, Shepard. I appreciate it though. My loyalty isn't lightly given, but you've more than earned it." The operative gestured to Thane. "I think that he's going to pair us up tonight. I look forward to kicking your ass."

"You and everyone else." Shepard muttered, glancing around the room. Samara stood silently behind Thane, surveying the crew impassively. Jacob stood to Miranda's left, chatting with Kasumi, who was hoodless for the evening, her dark hair pulled into a twist at the nape of her neck. Jack stood to Shepard's right wearing her skintight latex shirt and shooting glances at Miranda. She hoped that Thane wasn't considering pairing the two of them at any point; she'd seen Jack take out three YMIR's in one shot and she didn't relish the idea of a hole that size magically appearing in the side of the Normandy. Zaeed stood off to the side, leaning against the crates and watching with an amused expression on his face.

Thane cleared his throat and the room quieted. "I have been observing the crew since I boarded the Normandy. You are a diverse and skilled group, the finest the galaxy has to offer. However, many of you are unpracticed in the area of hand to hand combat." The drell was apparently quite the diplomat when he chose to be; Shepard was impressed with his politic phrasing.

He strode over the mats, walking the wide half circle of the assembled crew. "I have trained extensively in a variety of hand to hand combat styles, as has Samara." He gestured to the Justicar, who stood quietly behind him. "We need every advantage for the upcoming battle, and the ability to fight unarmed can sometimes be the crucial turning point."

He paired them off; Jack and Zaeed, Kasumi and Jacob, Miranda and Shepard. Thane motioned to Samara. "Samara and I have secured hand and leg guards to be worn during our initial training. Dr. Chakwas can treat any injuries incurred during these sessions, but I'd rather keep her involvement to a minimum." Samara distributed the padding, which fit most well enough to be sufficient.

"Operative Taylor, Miss Goto. Please come forward." They stepped to Thane and he moved aside, clearing a space on the center of the mats. "You will take turns, one fighter will take the offensive position and one fighter will take the defensive position." He indicated Jacob, and then Kasumi. "When I call a halt, you'll switch positions."

They nodded their understanding and Samara motioned towards them as she spoke in her clear and even voice. "You may begin."

The operative and the thief stood for a moment, their bodies deceptively still. Jacob moved forward with a quickness that surprised Shepard, grabbing for Kasumi's left arm and maneuvering his foot to wedge beside hers. As quick as he was, Kasumi was quicker, moving like a blur to sidestep his reach. She whirled behind him and reached for the loop of his belt, nearly grasping it before Jacob reversed his direction, pivoting on his forward foot and using it to thrust toward her. He reached for her shoulder and she ducked backwards, neatly avoiding his closing hand.

Though this exchange had taken less than a minute, she heard Thane's voice call out. "Switch positions." Kasumi took the initiative immediately, grabbing Jacob's wrist as he retracted it, twisting it with the motion of her body to pull him into an arm hold. Jacob counter-maneuvered, twisting along with her and rotating under her arm, reversing their positions by using the torque of his movement to pull her into an arm hold against his chest.

Kasumi paused for a moment, as if assessing the situation, then stomped on Jacob's left foot hard enough to make him groan. As he leaned forward in pain she shifted her hip and caught him in the midsection. From there it was a simple matter of letting his own weight work against him, throwing him over her side to land on his back. Despite his winding, Jacob slid his grip around her wrist and lifted his legs, pressing his feet into her abdomen and flipping her over his head.

The two lay there, breathing heavily, as Thane approached to offer them each a hand up. Shepard had noticed Thane and Samara conversing as the two fought, and imagined that they were exchanging observations. Thane smiled at both Kasumi and Jacob in turn. "Are you injured?" They both shook their heads, giving each other lopsided grins and linking hands. Shepard glanced at Miranda, but if the woman was bothered she gave no indication.

Zaeed and Jack were called up next, and Jack stomped to the middle of the mat with an air of purpose. It had been nearly a week since the last mission and she looked like she was itching for a fight as she cracked her knuckles in anticipation. Thane designated Zaeed as the offensive partner, and he smirked at Jack in a supremely self-satisfied manner. Samara indicated that they could begin, and again there was hesitation as the two sized each other up.

Jack pounded her fist into her hand, finally breaking the silence. "Come on, you old bastard. Hit me with everything you've got." Her voice was a low growl as she dropped her stance, bending her knees and bouncing slightly.

"I've been wanting to kick your ass for ages, girlie." He looked down as if he were considering something quite seriously, then came for Jack, fist raised to the side to hit her in the first available spot. It was the dirtiest fight that Shepard had ever seen, and she'd observed plenty of drunken fights in her early Alliance days. They kicked and bit and grabbed at any available body part in their efforts to bring each other down. Jack got in a good shot to Zaeed's chin, and he followed it up with a kick to Jack's stomach that she was sure would leave a bruise. Jack screamed, jumping onto Zaeed like a wild varren and ripping at his hair and armor; Zaeed tried to shake her and ended up falling to the mat, catching her with an elbow to the breast. As Zaeed tried to stand, Jack clamped her hand on his groin and squeezed; Zaeed was turning an interesting shade of purple when Thane and Samara finally managed to separate the two.

Zaeed walked slowly out of the room, wincing each time he took a step. Jack stood next to Kasumi, rubbing her boob and swearing under her breath. "He deserved it." She said, eyeing Shepard defiantly. Shepard nodded; she was not stepping into that particular situation right now.

She had her own fight to worry about as she stepped to the center of the mat with Miranda. They awaited Samara's signal and began circling each other, moving almost simultaneously in opposing directions. Miranda was on the offensive during this round, and Shepard tried to keep an eye on all of her limbs at once. She caught the twitch of her right arm before it moved, which gave her a split second to react. It was difficult to remember the physical training from her Alliance days, as it had been nearly seven years since she'd last been required to participate.

As Miranda brought her right fist towards her left shoulder, Shepard brought her left arm up into a clumsy sweeping block. The fist just glanced off of her shoulder, the padding muffling the blow by quite a bit. The operative lifted her left leg and brought it towards Shepard's right side in a sweeping kick. Shepard dodged backwards, almost stumbling as the edge of a foot brushed past her hip.

Miranda kept coming, swinging the opposing arm in a wide arc that Shepard managed to duck, sidestepping as well to keep them clear of the spectators. A booted foot came hurtling at her before she could move aside. She caught it with her hands, taking the brunt of the force there, and twisting the foot to the right until Miranda fell to the mat.

She heard Thane's voice calling for the switch as she helped Miranda to her feet, and she waited for her nod to continue. They were probably the least skilled of those that had fought, but she was sure that they would get points for civility. She stepped towards Miranda, grabbing her right wrist with her left hand. Miranda twisted and Shepard had no choice but to follow; she managed to twist towards her, as they were moving, and backhanded her in the neck. Miranda let go for a second, and Shepard grasped her left hand, attempting to mimic the throw that Kasumi had demonstrated so elegantly earlier.

To her surprise, she ended up on her back, looking up at Thane. He had a small grin on his face as he helped her to her feet. "You did well, siha. I believe that your weaknesses can be turned into strength with some effort." He turned to the remaining crewmembers; Jack had apparently snuck out at some point, though it was evident that she hardly needed any training in hand to hand. "Samara and I will take the next day to compare notes on your abilities. Siha, how often would you like us to meet for these training exercises?"

Shepard pulled a padded glove off of her hand and considered. "If we can manage, I'd like to have one every few days. Mission dependent, of course. I'll send a message to each of your terminals twenty-four hours before schedule." She removed the other glove and handed it to Samara as the others left. Jacob and Kasumi held hands again as they exited the room; Shepard was torn between reveling in the cuteness of the action and staring at Miranda as if attempting to divine her feelings on the matter.

Samara gathered the pads in silence as Thane took her hand, squeezing it gently. "Will you stay for a few moments? I'd like to work with you, one on one."

Shepard nodded her assent, reaching for Samara as she began to leave. "Thank you, Samara. Your expertise is such an asset to the crew. I appreciate your willingness to pass along your knowledge."

"It is my honor to serve, Shepard. All that I know is at your disposal." She gave the couple a small smile, then turned and exited the room.

Thane gave her an appraising look. "You are not without skill, siha. Your movements need refinement and your strike lacks precision; however, you are strong and you adjust your strategies quickly." Reaching out a hand, he brushed an offending sweat laden swatch of hair from her brow. "We also need to work on your falls, which put me in mind of a drunken elcor."

"That graceful, huh?"

"The first thing that the hanar's instructors taught me was precise striking. Hitting your target in a weak spot with minimal motion and maximum force. Weak spots will vary according to species, but the way that you strike them should never vary."

He dropped her hand and walked behind her, straightening her back with the palms of his hands. "You should stand straight always; no slouching."

Shepard straightened a little more, throwing her shoulders back. She was acutely aware of his hands in the small of her back, despite the fact that she was also trying to concentrate on his words. Her hips wriggled a little against him, but he appeared not to notice. This was his instruction mode, by all appearances, and it would not be thwarted by her hormonal urges.

His hands slid to her hips, gripping them tightly. "You are a soldier, siha, with strength and discipline at your disposal. Instead of channeling this into a precise impact, you disperse the energy through your whole body. It makes your attacks weak and ineffectual when facing an opponent with any type of training." Pressing himself into her back, he turned her hips slightly with his, guiding her with his hands. "Power lies in the torque of your hips. It is channeled from them into your fist, which strikes your opponent in the most devastating spot."

He nudged her feet apart with his, adjusting them so that her left foot was slightly forward. His right hand ran down her right arm, wrapping her fingers into a fist. "Jab with this arm, quickly." He twisted her hips in the direction of her arm as she jabbed, demonstrating the torque.

They did this for twenty minutes, as he made minute corrections to her form with his hands. He moved in front of her, holding a leg pad in each hand and presenting them as targets. "Left hand. Right hand." His voice directed her fist into each padded palm until he told her to switch to her opposing arm. The rhythm of his directions grew steadily quicker and she was surprised when she began to keep up with pace without hesitation.

"Impressive. You learn quickly." He spoke next to her ear quietly, bringing her out of her punching reverie. Coming around, he stood in front of her. "Now hit me." She hesitated. "You'll not hurt me, siha." A small smile curved his lips. "I have been hit many, many times in my life."

Her arm was moving before she gave it any conscious thought, fist curled with the thumb tucked underneath the knuckles so as not to cause a break. She watched it move as if time had slowed and felt the slight rotation of her hips below, just enough to give her fist that extra amount of power. Shepard was elegance personified; her fist was a sleek and deadly bullet moving towards its target. When the sleek and deadly bullet connected with his perfect lips, it was all she could do to keep from crying.

**oOo**

She had insisted that he come back to her cabin to tend to his wound, despite the fact that it was barely a nick and had bled for all of two minutes. Shepard had apologized repeatedly on the way back, though he had assured her that there was no pain. Thane was now sitting on the couch patiently as she showered, a glob of medigel sitting on the nonexistent wound.

"I'm going to take a shower while you let the medigel work." Her tank top had dried to her skin and she felt disgusting. "Why don't you go down to Gardener and get some dinner ordered for us? We did plan on a dinner date, didn't we?"

Thane gave her a smile that stopped her heart for a few seconds, damn him. "We did, siha. Do you have any preferences?"

She waved her hand noncommittally. "Some type of meat, some noodles, some vegetables. I'm not picky when I'm ravenously hungry."

Shepard rehearsed her suggestions as she showered; they would take it slowly and do some research before delving into the physical side of things. It was pretty obvious that they were biologically compatible, at least from a sexual perspective. The petabytes of human/drell videos in the Fornax library testified to that particular truth. Knowing the potential pitfalls beforehand would make the experience better for both of them.

It was going to be easier said than followed through, however. Her discussion with Garrus in the elevator had brought her current 'dry spell' to the forefront of her mind. The mission took priority, and she could use that as a distraction, but they often went days travelling between missions. Days spent in relatively close proximity to someone that she found particularly attractive, with only their willpower to dissuade them.

Drell society likely had some social expectations when it came to relationships as well, though she was unsure of what they might be. She'd never studied the mating rituals of other cultures; she'd been too busy kicking ass and killing those other species before they killed her to delve into their sociology. It was entirely possible that drell had a mandatory year long waiting period or something equally ridiculous. The thought of another year with only the silver vibrator in her bottom drawer for company was depressing.

As she combed her fingers through wet hair, her mind drifted to the yellow and red drell males that she'd seen in the Fornax videos. If those were any indication of average male drell size it was going to feel like losing her virginity all over again. She'd have to find a way to subtly query Thane about that, though it was hard to imagine a conversation naturally working its way back to the size of his penis.

Thought it had been fifteen years, she could remember her first time with Eric Cantrell, her best friend. They'd both been eager to get it over with and more than a little bit bored during their summer off. It was an awkward, fumbling sort of thing that she still looked back on rather fondly. He'd downloaded some vids from the extranet and they'd studied them seriously, taking notes on technique and body part placement. In the end, they'd gone with standard missionary, and she'd been horribly disappointed; the women in the vids looked like they were enjoying the hell out of themselves, and she had spent the entire time grimacing.

It had gotten much better with practice though. By the end of that summer she was actually starting to appreciate what those unknown women might be feeling. They had figured out where the clitoris was, after much trial and error, and were working on the g spot, which was proving a little more difficult. She'd gotten very skilled at blowjobs and had come to the conclusion that male parts were significantly easier to figure out. However, that didn't necessarily apply to male alien parts, so she might be back at square one on that.

As she was turning to leave the bathroom, a horrible thought struck her. What if Cerberus had restored her to 'factory sealed' condition, so to speak? Miranda had been pretty pissed about the Illusive Man's denial of a control chip, and this was well before they'd become friends. Restoring her hymen would be a perfect passive-aggressive way to make her life a bit more miserable without directly defying her boss. She would be scheduling a talk with Miranda early the next morning, which put her at two potentially awkward talks in a twenty-four hour period.

Upon exiting the bathroom she noticed several things at once: the lights were dimmed, some type of soft music was playing in the background and something smelled fantastic. The dim lighting set off a little voice in the back of her head that sounded suspiciously like Jack. _That's mood lighting, Shepard. _The voice sounded vaguely bored, and she could imagine Jack lounging on her bed, her filthy boots staining the pristine white covers as she surveyed the room.

_When a guy dims the lights, he's thinking of screwing. You're the person who just spent twenty minutes in the bathroom thinking of reasons to delay ripping his pants off._ Shepard couldn't argue with that, but it still irritated her to have it pointed out. Jack continued undeterred. _I don't know why you dragged me into this shit, but if I'm stuck here for the duration you're going to listen to my advice and play it like I say._

She nodded and headed down the stair to see that Thane was still seated on the sofa, with two plates of delicious smelling food placed on the coffee table, alongside a bottle of wine and two glasses. The drell had taken off his jacket again, and her eyes were immediately drawn to his arms, admiring the sinewy muscles as they moved under his skin. _Yeah, yeah. _Jack spoke up in her head. _His arms are really fucking impressive. Sit down in the corner and move the plate toward you. Be casual about it, goddammit. Don't act like a spaz._

"Is this acceptable, siha?" Thane indicated the plates with his hand as she seated herself in the corner, pulling the plate to her. "It's fried rice, but it fit your general requirements of a starch, vegetable and meat."

She flashed him a warm smile. "It's perfect, Thane. Thank you very much for arranging the food."

He gave her an odd look in reply; examining her seated position and the distance between them, but declined to comment in the end. They conversed naturally, just as they had in life support, slipping from a discussion of the brief training exercise to her upcoming mission with Kasumi.

Shepard could tell that he was concerned for her safety, and it made her heart do a silly little fluttering thing._ Stop that… right… fucking…now._ Jack commanded in her head. _First your heart's doing silly shit, then your cuddling with him, then you've got his dick in your mouth. _She willed herself to settle down, but the visuals from Jack weren't helping much. _You know, I could get used to giving you orders and you actually following them. _She hadn't known that it was possible to feel someone smirking until that moment.

Thane finished his meal, wiping his mouth neatly with the napkin and picking up the bottle of wine, pouring a small amount into both glasses. He handed the second glass to Shepard, his fingers brushing hers as she took it from his grasp. "Shall I start the discussion?" He raised his eyeridge, holding the glass in one hand and tracing slow circles around the top with the index finger of his free hand. It was hypnotizing and arousing; she imagined him doing that to _parts_ of her body…

_I'd drink that slowly, Shepard. Drunkenness leads to nakedness, which leads to fucking on the couch._ This was the wrong tack to take, as her eyes had started scouting the couch for potentially cushy spots. _Why the hell are you avoiding sleeping with him anyway, Shepard? He's hot and you're both consenting fucking adults on a suicide mission. I know you're self-righteous, but I didn't think you were frigid too._

Biting her lip hard enough to draw blood, Shepard clamped down on Jack's voice and her libido simultaneously. She cleared her throat and forced herself to slouch against the back of the sofa and relax a bit. "I can start. I don't mind." He inclined his head and she let the words tumble from her mouth. "I would like to establish some sort of… basis for progression, I guess you could say, for this relationship."

The drell in front of her sipped from the wine glass casually, a small movement that displayed more grace than she exhibited when she was actually concentrating. "I concur. I'm unfamiliar with the specifics of human biology, or their mating rituals. Though I have been researching the subject independently."

Shepard was absolutely not going to start thinking about that research. Not one little bit about it. Her hand shook as she took a small sip of the wine. "I've been doing a little research myself. Garrus actually helped out a lot on that end." Thane's eye ridge flew up again, almost level with the bindi on his forehead. She laughed a little. "He hasn't been sitting with me or anything; it's nothing weird like that. About three months ago he bought me a Fornax as a joke. Then a few weeks ago he bought me a digital subscription."

Thane was doing the inscrutable thing again, and she couldn't read his mind, so she flew on with her explanation. "Apparently drell male with human woman videos are very popular. Fornax has an… extensive library." She tittered… she never tittered. "Apparently what they say about women not being into porn is entirely untrue."

When she looked back up, Thane had placed the wineglass on the coffee table and scooted closer to her. She fought the urge to scoot away as he took her hand in his. "I'm familiar with Fornax and its offerings, siha." He chuckled at her slightly shocked look. "I am a male. While I may not have had any physical partners over the ensuing years, I didn't live an entirely monastic life." He stroked her hand, tracing the curves of her fingers to their tips. "Drell culture has a pragmatic view on sexuality and mating. They are both a natural part of life, and should be enjoyed to the fullest."

He slowed his fingers and looked at her. "You are out of sorts tonight, siha; jumpy and nervous when you are normally comfortable in my presence. Is there a problem; something that I can solve?"

Shepard wanted to look away, because looking at him staring at her so earnestly was making her want to snog the life out of him. Collecting herself for the billionth time that evening, she acted like a grownup and looked him in the eye. "I'm having some difficulty maintaining my composure around you. This is a new relationship and everything is very exciting… well, actually, you're very exciting. To me."

"Exciting in what way?" The thick plates on his face couldn't hide his mirth.

"Physically." She shifted uncomfortably. "I find you physically attractive, but I don't want to move directly into ripping your clothes off. So it's a constant struggle…" He was no longer amused and had moved directly to sultry, licking his lips slowly as he gazed at her. It was like he had a direct line to her crotch, and a not unpleasant pulsing had started there. The warning sirens were starting up in her head, but she pushed them impatiently to the side. Maybe a little hands-on experimentation would be a good thing.

Thane spoke slowly, his eyes drifting over her face and down over the curve of her neck. "You desire me? That is your issue?" He softly brushed the hair away from her face, running a thumb over the curve of her cheek. "I desire you as well. My heart thuds in my chest when you're near." His thumb continued over the curve of her jawline. "My blood runs hot in my veins. I want to know every part of you, as one lover knows another." The thumb of his right hand rubbed the fullness of her bottom lip and he leaned closer.

She made one desperate last attempt to stop him, taking his hand and removing it from her face. "Thane…"

He cut her off with a soft kiss that left her winded. "But I restrain myself, siha. I don't want our time together to be full of awkward fumblings, as if we were children." The pad of his thumb pressed playfully against her nose as he said this.

"So…" Shepard expelled the word with her breath, sagging against his chest. "We research independently, and share the results with each other. When we have the opportunity."

He nodded, resting his forehead against hers briefly. "We take our time and enjoy. Considering the severity of our mission, it's best to take our pleasure very seriously." Giving her a small smile, he kissed her briefly and stood, gathering the dishes. "It's best that I head back to my quarters for the night. I'll drop these off in the mess." Thane bowed slightly. "I look forward to our future experimentation, siha."

Shepard stared after him, groaning loudly as the door closed behind him. She was torn between a very cold shower, which she didn't technically need, and something… else. Tapping her foot against the table, she tried to rid herself of the events of the past hour, breathing deeply and centering herself, as Samara had tried to teach her.

"Fuck centering." She announced, standing up and striding over to her nightstand and opening the bottom drawer. The tiny, bullet shaped device sat sparkling in its clear case in the center. "It looks like its you and me tonight, babe."

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, so this took forever and is likely not entirely worth the wait. I will rally after this, I swear. Thanks to Katerina Kintari for reading and editing my derpage, lyssalu for listening to my derpage, and Icca and all of the other wonderfuls at NSAS for inspiring all kinds of wonderful stuff from too many wonderful people. Also, thanks to anyone who has reviewed, favorited or alerted. Or even accidentally pulled up the page and scoffed. I love you all like you are my babbies.**

**A/N Redux: Corrected misuse of the word "bemused", repeatedly, due to temporary stupidity. **


	10. Don't Leave Me This Way

_We might make out, when nobody's there. It's not that we're scared, it's just that it's delicate. _

_ Delicate – Damien Rice_

* * *

Kasumi was rummaging through the small closet in her room as Shepard looked on from the bar. She was sipping some type of salarian liqueur, Kasumi had muttered the name under her breath and she hadn't caught it. It was the color and consistency of honey, and she was deeply suspicious of its alcohol content. Salarians had a hyperactive metabolism, and even light grade booze would probably level her in a shot.

Approximately twenty minutes ago, Miss Goto had started pawing through the apparently vast number of outfits contained in her wardrobe. It was funny, because Shepard could only remember seeing her in three differing outfits in the time that she'd been onboard. The rest were probably reserved for evening when she and Jacob wanted to spice things up a little.

A dark head popped out of the closet, followed by an arm, waving a piece of cloth triumphantly. "I found it!" Kasumi emerged fully from the closet, shaking the flimsy looking item out and eyeing it critically. "I think it will fit. I'm pretty sure, at least. I have a good eye for those sorts of things."

"Is that what you're going to wear?" Shepard gave the dark bit of fabric a brief once over, taking another bird-like drink from her shot glass. "That's hardly practical for stealthy movement, Kasumi."

The thief held the thing, which appeared to be made of leather upon closer inspection, up in front of Shepard's slouching form. "No, silly Shep. You'll be wearing this dress."

Shepard laughed. "You expect me to believe that's a dress?" Placing her drink on the bar, she rubbed the skimpy hem with her finger and thumb. "Wait a minute… what did you say?"

Kasumi pushed the 'dress' towards her. "I said that you'll be wearing this tonight."

"Hell no. Absolutely not." Shepard pushed the dress back to the thief, shaking her head vehemently. "That's the size of a tea towel. I'm not wearing that in public."

Planting her feet, Kasumi pushed back yet again. "It's stretchy. You need to dress a bit provocatively to distract Hock, anyway. This will be perfect for showcasing that chest that you normally hide behind t-shirts."

"I…"

Before she could finish, Kasumi interrupted. "Look, just try it on. If we can't make it work, we'll find something else _not _from your wardrobe." She gave Shepard a little push towards the bathroom.

Clutching the too tiny dress in her hands, Shepard shuffled into the bathroom. Grumbling, she removed her t-shirt, sliding the leathery ho gown over her head and shoulders, and pulling it down as far as it would go. She had to admit that it wasn't nearly as dire as she'd originally thought, reaching to a respectable inch above the kneecap. The plunging neckline was leaving very little to anyone's imagination, however. In addition, that was normally her storage spot for a small caliber firearm when forced into formalwear.

She marched out to find Tali sitting on the couch, sipping a pink liquid from a large glass. Kasumi was standing at the bar, mixing another potentially lethal concoction for herself. They both swiveled to stare at Shepard, who had stopped in front of the small end table to glare at them. "There's no place to put my beretta."

Kasumi looked her over, stopping at her legs and pointing. "You aren't planning on wearing those tonight, are you Shep?"

Shepard glanced down at her black cotton pants, hanging out of the bottom of the dress. "Don't change the subject. I don't know if I am wearing this tonight; especially if I can't bring my gun."

"You look really nice, Shepard." Tali interjected. "I don't think I've ever seen you in a dress."

"I…" Shepard reigned in her irritation. She couldn't be irritable with Tali; it just wasn't possible. "Well, I don't normally see you in situations where a dress is appropriate. Not like I'd wear a formal gown and heels to fight geth."

Kasumi sighed. "Alright, Shep. I was delaying telling you this… you won't like this." She took a swig of her drink. "You aren't going to be able to bring a weapon in because Hock will have you weapon scanned at the door. We are going to have to rely on your charm to get us to where we need to be."

Tali let out a loud snort. "It's far better than relying on her unarmed combat." She looked from Kasumi to Shepard as if she suddenly realized that her inner monologue had turned into an outie. "I'm sorry, Shepard." Her hand covered her helmet, as if to keep the wrong words from slipping through her communicator. "My hand to hand is nothing to brag about either." Tali gave the drink sitting in her other hand a forlorn look. "This drink is addling my brain."

Hiking up her skirt and sitting the on the arm of the leather couch, Shepard waved her hand at Tali's apology. "No harm done, Tali. I'm the one who's supposed to be perfect at everything, Hero of the Citadel and all." She fixed Kasumi with an expectant look. "So Kasumi, how are we smuggling weapons in? I know for certain that we aren't going to rely on my considerable charm to fight our way through whatever kind of security force Hock employs."

With a small smile on her face, Kasumi opened her omni tool and shot through a series of system directories, projecting an image between them. "We are going to give him this; a golden statue of Saren Arterius, specially forged for the occasion. Unlike the Greek version, however, this particular offering will be packed to the hilt with enough weaponry to take out Hock's best defense."

"So, we just need to find a way to get to the statue before Hock discovers our true identities, huh?" Shepard examined the turian in the holo, sparkling in his golden splendor. "The odds of success seem pretty low, but no lower than anything else that I've managed to accomplish in the past several years." Not for the last time in her life, Shepard wondered why she had stuck with the Alliance and Special Forces. "I'm going to head to my room to see what type of non-lethal object I can manage to conceal in here, just to increase my odds a little."

The sound of a throat clearing drifted across the room from the doorway, and Shepard recognized the deep, rumbling voice before she finished turning. Thane held a book in his hands and looked rather apologetic as he spoke. "I wanted to return Locke to you as I've finished with the volume." He addressed Kasumi, but Shepard could feel his gaze sliding over her periodically; it was an entirely pleasant feeling.

He crossed the room and handed the book to Kasumi, who took it from him with a rather satisfied smirk. Tali's eyes moved from Thane to Shepard with bright interest; the grin plastered across her face was impossible to not to notice through her helmet. Thane turned and offered his arm. "Shepard, I'll accompany you to your quarters. I believe that I have something that you may be able to slip past the scanners."

Shepard accepted his arm, her face flushing a delicate shade of pink. To her side, Tali chuckled and very possibly winked. _Where the hell had she learned that particular human tic?_ She made a note to set aside some time with Tali in the near future; it had been quite a while since they'd had some one on one time.

Thane turned to her as soon as the elevator doors shut, sliding one hand through her hair to cup the back of her head, and the other across her hip to rest on the small of her back, pulling her against him. "That dress is very becoming, siha." He murmured, his lips brushing hers as he spoke. "Distractingly so." He kissed her slowly as she gripped the front of his jacket with both hands, her fists balled against his chest.

She didn't notice that he'd moved towards the wall until she felt it against her back; the contrast between the heat of him against her front and the cold metal on her back was making her skin tingle. "That dress," he continued, nipping at her lips with the edges of his teeth, "is giving me all sorts of ideas."

She let go of his jacket and moved her hands to the back of his head, encouraging him as his lips traveled over her chin and down to her throat. Apparently drell and humans had similar erogenous zones, because he was hitting all of hers. It was also possible that every part of her body was an erogenous zone where he was concerned.

The elevator door swished open and his hands grasped the fabric at her waist as his lips stilled against her neck. Thane placed a small kiss on the side of her neck, and then lifted his head to look at her. "I'm sorry, siha. I let my emotions take hold." His eyes traveled downward again, lingering on the bodice of her dress. "You are very… alluring in that dress."

"So, do you particularly like dresses? Or do you like me in a dress?"

He chuckled, resting his forehead against hers and fingering a reddish corkscrew of hair. "Both would be the most accurate answer."

"Note to self." She mused aloud. "Wear dresses more often."

Thane spent the next few hours helping her to ready herself for the mission. From her reading on Hock, Shepard had devised that his guests would be primarily human, with a few asari intermingled as dates. He pointed out the weakest point on human and asari bodies, and demonstrated how to strike with the edge of her hand if a fist strike was unfeasible. When she announced her intention to kick off her ridiculous high-heeled shoes at the first sign of danger, Thane demonstrated how they could be used to strike the soft tissue in several painful ways.

He watched her assemble her hair and throw on makeup; Kasumi had told her to look 'appealing and feminine', and Shepard didn't trust her own judgement in that arena. When they were finished, he removed a small, metal rectangle from his jacket pocket, holding it up for her to examine. "This device will fit in the palm of your hand. It emits a neural shock that will paralyze its victim for up to twenty seconds." He handed it to her, showing her the small depression in the side. "This is the trigger. I assume that you know that this works best when pressed against bare skin."

She examined it carefully, slipping it into her palm and holding it there. "This is excellent, Thane." Standing, she picked at the dress, trying to find an appropriate hiding spot. "I generally wear a thigh holster, but this dress isn't cut properly for that." Shepard tugged at her bodice. "This is my other go to spot, but it would be bit of tight fit. Might get wedged in there permanently." She gave her cleavage a reproachful look.

"It's a truly marvelous storage spot, siha." He traced his finger from the center of her bodice, up the strap and over her shoulder down the curve of her arm, flipping her hand over when he finished. "However, I have an even more elegant solution." Reaching into his jacket pocket he retrieved a thick silver band, curved into a partial circle; she didn't recognize it as a bracelet until he slid it onto her wrist. "The device fits here." He snapped the rectangle into a slot on the top of the bracelet.

Shepard held out her arm, admiring the minimalist look of the silver metals. "You are truly a renaissance man, Sere Krios." She gave him a small peck on the lips, mindful of the rather heated make-out session in the elevator. "It appears that I owe you a great deal for your assistance before this dangerous mission."

"You can repay me by returning to me unscathed." Thane pulled her into a tight embrace.

He was nearly a head taller than her, and as he pulled away her head fell forward, sliding neatly under his chin. "What, you don't trust my years of military experience, or my proven record of surviving everything, including death?" She stayed there for a long moment, breathing in his scent as he stroked her hair. Cinnamon was the closest human equivalent that she could ascribe to him; sweet, warm and faintly exotic.

It brought memories of the cinnamon rolls that her mother baked when she was a child. Laurel trees grew well in the large greenhouse on Mindoir, and her mother had a ready supply of cinnamon on hand. The smell had always had a pleasant connotation for her, and she thought that she might tell Thane about those days in more detail at some point. Maybe when all of this was over and they were able to spend days at a stretch in each other's company.

She could feel his voice rumbling in his chest as he replied. "I have the utmost faith in your abilities, siha. Nonetheless, I will pray for your safe return."

"I'll take prayer." She drew back and winked at him. "I'll also take a promise that you'll do some research while I'm off kicking ass." The door to her cabin opened, admitting Kasumi, who halted when she saw the two of them.

"It's 1800, Shep. We agreed to meet in your quarters." She hesitated for a second. "I could give you a few minutes…"

"No harm done, Kasumi. Everyone's still clothed." Shepard grinned at the thief, dropping her arms from Thane's shoulders and giving his hand a quick squeeze and then letting it go. She hopped up the step to Kasumi, holding her wrist out. "Thane gave me a present. It doubles as a neural shocker."

Kasumi examined the device. "Very cunning. I like jewelry when it serves as a weapon." She nodded to Thane. "You truly know the way to a woman's heart."

Thane gave her a shallow bow. "I'll take my leave now. Enjoy your party, ladies."

**oOo**

Killing Hock had pretty much made Shepard's evening; she tried to suppress her more vengeful side, and succeeded a majority of the time. Some people not only deserved their fates, but also actively pursued whatever fitting resolution the universe had in store for them. Donovan Hock had all but thrown himself in front of the nifty M-12 Locust that she'd picked up in his vault, and she hadn't thought twice about pulling the trigger at the end.

Shepard sat across from Kasumi in the kodiak, trying to give her space as she decided what to do with the graybox sitting beside her on the seat. Kasumi had been unusually quiet, and Shepard was torn between keeping her silence and offering advice. The moments ticked by as they sat, the steady hum of the engines providing the only background.

Kasumi pushed her hood back, lifting her legs onto the seat and resting her knees on her chin. "What would you do Shepard? If you had a graybox from someone you loved?"

It was a pretty heavy question to lay on someone who had swollen feet and was generally exhausted. Shepard turned to the side and put her feet up on the bench, considering carefully. "What would I do with my mother's graybox? Or my father's, my brother's, my fiancé's?" She sighed. "Do you mean, regardless of what that particular person's wishes might be?"

"Yes. He was my partner for years, Shepard. We did everything together, we rarely ever argued." The thief hugged her knees tighter, looking like a forlorn child. "I've never been that close to anyone in my life. I miss it."

Shepard paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts. "After my family died, I used to wish that I could go back constantly, rewind to an earlier time and actually appreciate my time with them. I was sixteen at the time, and even though I was a pretty decent teenager I still took them all for granted."

"Jesus, Shep. I'd forgotten about Mindoir. You never talk about it…" Kasumi shook her head. "I'm an insensitive ass… I shouldn't be bothering you with this."

"Don't, Kasumi, seriously." Shepard waved her hand in agitation. "This isn't some kind of contest. I can empathize." She considered for a moment, and then moved to sit on the bench next to Kasumi.

"I have videos of my parents and sister; my Aunt gave me copies a year or so after they were killed. I lost nearly everything that we had on Mindoir, but my Mother had e-mailed those over the years. I used to watch those things over and over again." Shepard leaned her head back against the wall. "I don't know what I would have given for a graybox."

Kasumi sighed and dropped her legs back down to the floor. "I'm sorry about your family, Shep." She rubbed her temples and grimaced. "It does get easier, doesn't it? I thought I was starting to get over it… I'd even started thinking about other men. Seeing his memories has brought it all back; like it never faded in the first place."

"You mean Jacob, don't you? You can tell me it's none of my business, but I've noticed the two of you getting close." Shepard shrugged, but gave Kasumi a pointed look. "Does he even know about Keiji?"

The thief shook her head and grumbled. "I'd forgotten about the closed system on a ship, how nothing stays secret for long." Her eyes met Shepard's in a level gaze. "Yes, he knows about Keiji. We've been spending more time together, and it was one of the first things I told him when I realized where we might be headed." Her mouth curved into a small smile. "He said that he had no problem with taking things slow, that it wasn't like he'd planned on picking up a girlfriend on a suicide mission."

Shepard grinned. "Ever pragmatic; that's our Jacob." They sat in silence again for a few moments, shoulder to shoulder. Finally, Kasumi let her head droop to the side as Shepard pulled her into a one armed hug. "You never forget, Kasumi. I haven't forgotten my fiancé after nine years or my family after fifteen." She leaned her head against Kasumi's. "I don't know if having Keiji's memories will make things easier or harder, but I know that I would have chosen to keep the memories of my fallen if I'd had that option."

She squeezed the woman's shoulders. "Keep your graybox. I'll help you keep it from falling into the wrong hands, if it comes to that. If you decide one day that you can live without it, we'll chuck it into the Mass Effect core."

"I can do this, Shepard." Kasumi placed the graybox gingerly in her pack. "I can keep it hidden away too. It won't fall into the wrong hands." She leaned over and gave Shepard and impulsive hug. "Thank you for understanding."

"My teammates are my family, Kasumi. It's the least I could do." Slouching down, Shepard stretched her feet across the gap, resting them on the bench opposite. "My feet hurt… damn those high heels. I would pay someone to massage them right now."

Kasumi gave her a sly smile as she checked her Locust, popping the thermal clips and checking the ammo count. "I think I know a certain emerald green drell who'd be willing to massage virtually any part of you." Shepard arched an eyebrow at her. "It's a wonderful thing, Shepard. I'm happy for both of you."

Shepard thumbed the clips under her shoulders, removing her ceramic armplates and tossing them onto the bench beside her. "So…" She spoke slowly, shaking her arms to loosen them after their hours of armored confinement. "I guess that the whole ship knows about us after our night at the Dark Star, huh? I guess that I won't have to broadcast it over the ship comms or anything." She gave Kasumi a serious look. "You really think that it's wise to start a relationship on a suicide mission? Or am I completely crazy?"

"We can't choose whom we love or when we love them, Shep. There's no point in trying to fight it. I think that you'll be wonderful for each other, no matter how long it lasts." Kasumi put the Locust in her pack and stood as they approached the door of the Normandy's hangar bay. "You are completely crazy, to answer your question. Then again, so are the rest of us." She extended her hand to Shepard, hauling her up from the bench seat. "Come on. I think that we both have some things to take care of onboard."

They walked onto the Normandy arm-in-arm.

**oOo**

Much later that evening, Shepard made it back to her cabin. Both Samara and Tali had requested her presence, so she'd stopped first in starboard observation, then in engineering. Both issues would have to be addressed before investigating the derelict Reaper to plunder its IFF. Omega wasn't so horribly far away from the Migrant Fleet's current location, so the logistics were reasonable.

She was lounging on her sofa researching Ardat-Yakshi when Thane entered; she recognized the soft sound that his jacket made as he walked across the floor, though she knew that this was only because he allowed her to hear him. The heat of his lips against her neck soon followed, and she tilted her chin to the side to allow him better access.

"I'm happy that you've returned to me intact." He murmured in her ear, tracing the curve of the outer shell with the tip of his tongue. "Are you well?"

"My feet hurt." Her voice shuddered over her lips as he nibbled on the lobe of her ear.

He smiled and kissed her cheek gently. "I think that I can be of assistance." Standing, he moved along the length of the sofa to sit at her feet, drawing them into his lap. Taking her right foot in his hand, he began kneading the ball with the fused fingers of his right and left hands, putting pressure on the top of the foot with his thumbs.

She groaned in appreciation. "That's the best thing anyone has done for me ever, Thane." Her eyes slipped closed as she let her muscles relax under the firm and steady pressure of his fingers.

"Did I interrupt something earlier? You were engrossed in your datapad when I first entered." His fingers gently rolled the bones of her ankle and the tendons gradually loosened.

"Just some research for Samara." She murmured, hesitant to divulge information that might be considered private by the asari.

Thane switched her left foot, pushing hard into the ball of the foot yet again. "I finished my own bit of research earlier, siha. It may be of particular interest, if you'd indulge me."

"Hmmm?" She supposed that she should probably open her eyes and pay attention, but her feet were feeling marvelous and the whole process had made her quite pleasantly sleepy. "What type of research?" As she spoke the words, she realized what he was referring to. Her eyes flew open and she sat up, removing her feet from his lap. "You mean, regarding our… biological situation?"

He smirked, moving close enough that their knees touched. "Precisely." Nodding in confirmation, he took her hand, stroking it with his fingers. "Human females share some characteristics with drell females, but there are several key differences." His gaze drifted from her face to the front of her grey tank top, and then swiftly back to meet her eyes.

"Oh, breasts." She faltered for a moment. "I'd never considered the fact that drell females wouldn't have breasts. I've never really seen any other species females, with the exception of asari." She gave him a serious look. "Are you telling me that you've never seen an asari naked?"

He tilted his head, bringing a hand up to play with the curls framing her face. "I have seen asari naked, but that's far different from physical sensation."

Shepard leaned into his touch, unable to stop herself. It seemed that every evening that they spent together ended in a heated make out session on the couch. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it certainly wasn't doing anything to relieve the unrelenting tension caused by her overarching mission. "So, Sere Krios, what did you find out? Did you watch a vid or something; _The Care and Handling of Human Breasts_, perhaps?"

"Hmmm…" Thane mused, running his thumbs down each side of her jawline to meet at her chin. "I read quite a bit about their form and function." He dragged his thumbs in tandem down the column of her neck, stopping to rest on her collarbone. "I find the concept of nipples most intriguing. There was a rather large section of videos on the Fornax extranet devoted to alien species and breast worship."

She snorted a laugh that was decidedly unsexy. "Breast worship? I just wouldn't have thought that breasts had so many fans." Thane smiled slightly, his eyes still locked on his fingers, which were splayed across her collarbone. "I hope that you watched a drell/human vid; for perspective, of course."

"Of course, siha. My interest does lie in the area of drell and human relations, naturally." His fingers descended slowly from her collarbone to the tops of her breasts, outlined by the tight cotton tank. "I was hoping to demonstrate what I'd learned."

"Oh…" Her voice sounded small and far away, drowned out by the pounding of her pulse. Had she been on the brink of falling asleep just a few minutes ago? It felt like hours since she'd felt that relaxed. "I'd like that…" Her voice was hoarse, like she'd just recently started a hundred pack a day cigarette habit.

His hands moved slowly downward, slipping over the curves of her breasts like a breeze, barely touching the fabric. She felt a second of disappointment until his hands cupped them, taking the weight of each breast firmly in hand. "They're softer than I'd imagined, and more substantial." He jiggled them in his hands, and Shepard almost laughed until he brushed his thumbs over her nipples.

"God… Thane…" She closed her eyes and arched her back, pushing her breasts more firmly into his hands. "When you were massaging my feet I thought it was the best thing that anyone had ever done for me. I was wrong. This… this is the best thing that anyone has ever done for me." Shepard was officially babbling now, barely aware of what she was saying. It was hard to concentrate with the heat of his hands soaking through the thin cotton tank and his thumbs slowly stroking her erect nipples.

The babbling did not diminish Thane's interest in any way. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, siha." Moving his hands to the side, he hooked the thin straps of the tank top and pulled them slowly over her shoulders.

Shepard threw up a quick thanks to the gods of sexual congress that she had neglected to wear a bra that evening; one less thing to impede their progress, so to speak. Thane leaned forward as he pulled the tank top down with agonizing slowness, speaking softly into her ear with his deep, thrumming voice. "I had thought that I might have to remove your undergarment. A bra, I believe it's called."

She nodded, her breath hitching as he moved his hands across her newly bared skin. The feeling through the cotton tank had been enjoyable, but the brush of his skin against hers was a completely different sensation. His skin was coarser than hers, and she could feel the minute scales rubbing against the soft surface of her skin. It was like suede, or another animal skin, with just enough texture to send her nerve endings into overdrive.

Thane's lips grazed the length of her neck, down to the juncture where it met her shoulder. He paused there to suckle that particular spot, no doubt to demonstrate his skill. She was sure that it would leave a mark, but she was far too busy imagining his mouth on her bared bosom to feel any real concern about a hickey on her neck. She placed her hand on the side of his neck, gently pushing him in the appropriate direction. "Thane… not that your hands don't feel incredible, but your mouth…" His thumb rubbed in tight circles around the nub of her breast, and she temporarily forgot what she was saying.

Trailing his tongue down her collarbone, he grasped her hip with his free hand, pulling her leg up to hook around his back as he pulled her under him. "Where do you want my mouth, siha? Tell me." His breath was hot on her chest as he hovered there, his fingers digging pleasantly into her ass as he held her tightly.

"Here, goddamit." She grasped the hand still toying with her breast and squeezed it tightly. "I will kick your ass if you don't put your mouth on my breast this instant."

Even as he chuckled he complied, dipping his head and flicking his tongue tentatively across her nipple. She shivered hard, bucking her hips against his. In response, he took her into the warmth of his mouth, sucking her between his tongue and the roof of his mouth. Her head fell back as she closed her eyes, and for a few moments her communications lapsed into a series of moans. He divided his attention between each breast as she grasped his head, stroking the ridges that adorned it as she rode the blissful haze that his talented mouth had created.

She could feel his long, hard length pressed against her pelvis as she ground into him. In a moment she knew that she would start fumbling with his jacket; when that was removed she'd move onto the top of his pants, unbuttoning or unzippering them, even ripping them if that's what it took. There would be no turning back, only two lovers seeking an end to the white hot _need_ that was building into both of them. She doubted that she'd regret a second of it either.

He'd started removing his jacket, and she'd moved to help him, when EDI's voice rang through the dense air, previously filled with breathless panting. "Dr. Solus has requested entry to your cabin, Shepard. He says that the matter is urgent."

Shepard looked at Thane, then down at the two of them. Her tank top was crumpled around her waist; beneath her flushed and undeniably aroused flesh. Thane's erection was impossible not to notice as well; it looked as though his pants wouldn't hold up under the strain. She caught his gaze again, and he gave her a wry smile in return. The moment was shattered and they both knew it.

"Fuck." She announced, pulling up the straps of her tank top and pulling herself out from under Thane, who was busily making himself presentable again. "Give me three minutes, then let him in EDI."

"I'll relay your answer to Dr. Solus immediately, Shepard. Logging you out."

_This had better be monumental news, Mordin._ She thought, arranging her hair blindly into something that did not resemble a "twenty minutes of mindless pleasure on the couch" style. _This news will be spec-fucking-tacular, or I'll airlock him._ She decided.

* * *

**Thanks to the ever wonderful Katerina Kintari for her betaing and listening to my kvetching (check out A Dance of Minds if you haven't as it is some spectacular Thane). Thanks to NSAS as well for being as wonderful as they are :). A special thanks to anyone who reviews, or favorites, or alerts, or looks over someone else's shoulder as they read. It warms the cockles of my heart, it does.**


	11. A Little Respect

**A big thank you to lyssalu and Katerina Kintari for their betaing excellence; they are well worth the checking out. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed/favorited/alerted/heard of this little drabble; I love you from the bottom of my heart.**

_"What a difference a day makes. Twenty-four little hours." - Dinah Washington_**  
**

* * *

Mordin wandered into her cabin, staring at his omni tool and typing with short stabbing motions. She was surprised when he made it down the stair without tripping, coming to stand in front of her sofa as he finished with whatever business he was attending to. Shepard glanced over at Thane, noting that the obvious bulge in his pants was no longer there. _Impressive, _she thought. _I wonder if near instant subsidence is a drell trait or a Thane trait?_ He looked calm and unruffled, and she briefly cursed that seemingly effortless part of his nature.

The salarian ceased his typing, looking around the room curiously as if gathering data. His gaze finally settled on the two of them, taking in her general disarray and Thane's hand resting comfortable on her knee with his keen eyes. A slow smirk spread across his face. "Shepard, Thane, fortunate to find you both here. Several issues to address, very important. Can save time by updating you simultaneously." Mordin looked inordinately pleased with this.

"I'm ready when you are, Mordin." Shepard sat back against the sofa, leaning against Thane as she waited.

"Nanite functionality is progressing well, though Thane's samples near depletion." The scientist paced as he spoke, gesturing occasionally for emphasis. "Much trial and error, but early results promising." He stopped and pointed at Thane. "Chakwas will need more tissue; will tell her that you will be visiting the med bay." Mordin pulled up his omni tool again, presumably typing a note to Dr. Chakwas.

Thane made as if to stand. "I will attend to that right now, if you'll excuse me."

Mordin held up a hand. "Wait." He commanded. Thane lowered himself back to the sofa, giving the salarian a bemused look. "One more issue to discuss. Item of an intimate nature. Will try to be discreet." He was beaming at them as he launched into a discussion of drell/human relations.

True to his word, he did not delve into detail, but Shepard barely heard anything over the yammering of the voice in her head. _I am not getting a sex ed lesson from Dr. Mordin Solus, the all but asexual salarian scientist who occupies the Normandy's lab space. This is all just a horrible, mortifying dream. Like the dream where I'm presenting evidence of the Reapers to the Council, and I look down and notice that I'm naked, and the turian councilor air quotes something about me being a "supposedly female human"._

She turned to Thane, who was giving her an amused smile as Mordin's voice continued to drone in the background. Forcing herself to focus on his words, she caught the tail end of his lesson. "Have forwarded instruction vids and pamphlets to your private mail." Mordin nodded at each of them. "Would hope that you study them before mating commences."

Shepard stared at him for a moment, blinking. "Uhm…" She began; trying to simultaneously process the infodump that Mordin had just laid on them, and formulate a response.

"Questions, Shepard?" Mordin asked, his tone cheerful.

"The rash!" She exclaimed, pulling that bit from the sexual minefield of a lecture that she'd just been given. "I'm supposed to be chafing from skin to skin contact? Oh, and getting high as a kite from kissing? I haven't experienced any of that yet."

Mordin slipped into clinical mode within an instant. "No rash? No hallucinations? Interesting…" He started typing on his omni tool as he spoke. "Need duration for skin to skin contact. Also for oral contact. Approximate, of course." He appeared to consider for a moment, tapping his long finger against his chin. "No need for information now, send later, at your convenience. Will have gels available in the lab should the rash develop."

She was trying to wrap her mind around providing Mordin with the details of her more intimate moments with Thane, when the drell cut in, squeezing her knee as he answered. "Those are rather personal questions, Dr. Solus. However, in the name of science, as well as saving Shepard from personal discomfort, I will send you the details that you've asked for."

"Will leave you to your evening, then." Mordin smirked at them, then shuffled out the door, nodding his head as he stared at his omni tool.

"We did just get a lecture in biological compatibilities from Mordin, right? I'm not just having some horribly vivid dream?" Her terminal blasted the opening riff from "Revolution" by The Beatles, by way of informing her that she had a new message. She checked the mail on her datapad, clicking on the message from Mordin with some hesitance. Inside was a multipage document, highlighting the do's and don'ts of human on drell sexual action, including ten pages of links sorted into categories.

Thane leaned closer, examining the links with her. "It was not a dream, siha." His black eyes scanned quickly over the screen, as he raised an eye ridge. "I don't believe I'm familiar with golden showers."

"You don't want to know. Trust me."Shepard said quickly, scanning to the next page. To Mordin's credit he covered nearly everything sex related, including some fairly gruesome fetishes. There was an entire section devoted to "optional third partners" and one that dealt with an entire orgy of alien species.

Thane's brow creased as he read these links. "Drell, human and volus threesome." He murmured. "Drell, human and krogan threesome." A deep frown tugged at his features. "Siha, I'm willing to entertain any number of fantasies for you, but I…"

"Not interested in threesomes. At all." She cut him off quickly, and then realizing the harshness of her tone leaned in to cup his cheek, turning his face towards hers. "I'm content with you. Anyone else would be a very unwelcome distraction." Sealing the statement with a chaste kiss, she glanced at the clock. "It's very late, cher. I'd love for you to sleep over, but I think we both know that we wouldn't get much in the way of rest."

"Cher? Hopefully this is a flattering term." Thane stood, taking her hand and brushing his soft lips across the knuckles.

Shepard shook her head. "You won't get an explanation out of me that easily. Maybe I'll give when you enlighten me to the meaning of siha?"

The word lingered in her mind as he left though, a relic from her a past that she hadn't considered for years. Her paternal grandmother, or mere mere, had been ever present in her early life, practically a force of nature in the breadth of her influence on Shepard's childhood. Mere mere was only one eighth Cajun French, but she had grown up in a small Louisiana parish determined to preserve and revive the slowly dying language. She'd spent several summers on Earth, in the still lush and green former plantation. Those were some of her fondest childhood memories.

Mere mere had called her cher for as long as she could remember, a term of endearment that Shepard had later applied to her younger sister. She hadn't used the word, or even thought of it, in well over a decade. Thane was proving to be inadvertently adept at drawing her past into the present; bringing back those memories that she'd walled off wholesale after her family's death. At the time, she'd been unable to separate the good from the bad, and it had been far easier to relegate all of the memories to storage. She fell asleep easily that night, wandering the endless rows of mere mere's orange grove.

**oOo**

Tassala was the largest layover station on Imorkan, hovering in the gaseous atmosphere, hundreds of miles above the volatile surface. The suspension of the domed platform was accomplished through a complex network of overlapping mass effect fields; the resulting electrical discharge was fed directly into the platform's power grid by a series of converters. It was a supremely efficient design for a layover run primarily by pirates and outlaws.

The station also happened to hold Shepard's favorite restaurant in the Terminus, Rourke's Diner. Henry Rourke himself was a former Alliance Commander and more than capable of holding his own among the seedy locals; he was a favorite of the local batarian pirates, who held his diner cuisine in high regard. His meatloaf was the best she'd tasted since long before boot camp; additionally, he was the best source of intel for the Terminus System due to his clientele. It was a win-win situation as far as Shepard was concerned.

She looked at Miranda, sitting across from her in the corner booth of the nearly empty diner. Midnight galactic time was an off-hour for Rourke's; the normal clientele was taking advantage of the ample gambling and brothel opportunities. Miranda had eyed the place warily when entering. It was clean for a greasy spoon, but the ambience was distinctly freighter class. The tables and chairs were utilitarian, lightly padded and monochromatic in color. It was a place meant for transient travelers, in and out in an hour or less. Miranda kept any opinions she might have had to herself though, which Shepard duly noted.

"Would you like some recommendations?" Shepard had pushed her menu to the side the moment it was handed to her, checking her omni tool for any updates on the Normandy's status. The crew was well drilled in Terminus System layovers; they refueled efficiently and shopped for supplies in groups of five, at least three of them armed to the teeth. Tassala respected open displays of firepower over most other things. Still, you could never be too careful in any Terminus port.

Miranda glanced up at her, her brows drawn into a deep v as she considered her options. "That would probably be helpful, Shepard. I haven't eaten in a diner in ages."

"Chicken, beef or seafood? Or are you a veggie?" She realized with some surprise that her friendship with Miranda was still new enough that she had no clue as to her food preferences.

Leaning against the high backed booth seat, Miranda closed her menu and placed it on the table. "Beef, then chicken. I'm allergic to seafood." Shepard gave her a wide-eyed look at this, and Miranda chuckled. "I know; a little known genetic defect in my family line. My father didn't consider it important enough to refine it out of the final product."

Any lingering doubts that Shepard might have had about the dinner evaporated as she sat across from Miranda, grinning at the thought of her perfect teammate being felled by the taste of a little shellfish. "Miranda, is it horrible that your allergy actually makes me like you more? Not that I wasn't fond of you already." She added hastily.

"To tell you the truth," Miranda was grinning as well, "it's my flaws that make me feel more human. I've always been particularly fond of them." She pushed the menu towards Shepard. "You order for me. I'll put my implicit trust in you for this meal."

Shepard shook her head, an amused expression on her face. "No pressure, right Miranda?" She held up her finger, signaling to the bored asari waitress leaning against the counter. "Two meatloaf specials. Homemade mashed potatoes and green beans as sides…" Hesitating, she glanced at Miranda. "You do like potatoes and green beans?" The operative inclined her head in assent. "Two ginger-ales as well."

Leaning forward on the table, she placed her chin on her hands and fixed Miranda with a steady look. "You mentioned flaws, as in multiple, Miranda. So spill it."

Miranda raised an eyebrow at her. "It's hardly fair for me to be expected to air all of my imperfections without an even exchange."

"You already know that I'm rubbish at hand to hand. Compared to a seafood allergy, that's pretty huge. I'd say you owe me something bigger."

"Alright." Miranda folded her hands and appeared to concentrate for a few moments. "I have hyperosmia; a side effect of genetic manipulation, yet again." At Shepard's furrowed brow, she sighed. "Of course, most people don't know what that is. I have an acute sense of smell. It's helpful in many cases, but it more often than not it causes sensory headaches that are quite debilitating."

Shepard wrinkled her nose. "So, smells give you migraines. Working with Grunt must be an exercise in pain tolerance, in that case."

Miranda snorted, and Shepard had to laugh. Krogan were the toughest bastards around, but they weren't known for their stellar personal hygiene. "Cerberus installed cybernetic mods near my olfactory nerve; they dampen the nerve impulses and take everything down several notches. I haven't had a migraine since." She chuckled again. "I'm completely paranoid about them failing and insist on getting them checked every year. My life was significantly less fun without them."

The waitress shuffled by, depositing their drinks on the table, and Shepard used that time to consider. Compared to a sense of smell that induced crippling headaches, piss poor unarmed combat skills were nothing. You could easily compensate for weaknesses in combat by playing up your strengths. If Miranda was going to be that forthcoming with her, she owed her something more substantial.

"I had a breakdown, after Elysium. I fucking lost it completely." Shepard twirled the glass in front of her in its own condensation. "I didn't answer e-mails or phone calls. I ignored visitors. I didn't eat, I barely drank or slept. That went on for two days, until they busted my door down."

Miranda's eyes were widened in surprise. "This was nowhere in your files, Shepard. Cerberus did some serious digging on you; I know about the mole on your left thigh, and precisely how many fillings you have." The operative paused as she thought. "Did Captain Anderson break your door down?"

"On the nose." Shepard touched her finger to the tip of her nose for effect. "He and a few enlisted pulled me out of my bed and took me to a facility on Noveria; very expensive and very anonymous. The head of psychiatry owed him a favor. I was there for…" She tapped the number out on the table with her index finger. "Six weeks. As far as the Alliance was concerned, I was on medical leave." Smiling, Shepard took a swig of her soda. "I worked through a lot of shit while I was there; things that I'd been repressing for years. So much for the perfect and unflappable Commander Shepard."

"Shepard, really." Miranda shook her head in disbelief. "I thought that this whole conversation was about the fact that no one is really perfect. Even those of us who are created for that specific purpose."

Shepard laughed this time, a hearty laugh that made the asari, previously staring at the vid screen, turn around and give her an annoyed look. "I also bite my nails. I'd sooner shoot a merc than speak to them, as well."

Miranda leaned towards her, planting her elbows in the table. "I'm horrible at math. I had to get a tutor for Algebra, and I barely passed even with that help. Yet Cerberus trusts me to manage funding for projects." She grinned widely at Shepard.

"I am useless at navigating; I have absolutely no sense of direction." Shepard had leaned forward too, jabbing the table for emphasis as she spoke. "I failed every navigation class in Command School. Without the galaxy map I'd be totally lost." She dragged the diner accoutrements toward her; the salt and pepper shakers became her team, and the sugar, cream and molasses containers became markers. "When leading a team through a completely new area I rely entirely on visual markers to plot a course in and out. I had to teach myself to use largely immovable objects after I got lost in a merc base under heavy fire." She demonstrated this fact by knocking a jelly packet off of the table.

The asari approached the table cautiously, a tray held in her right hand. She set the steaming plates on the table in front of them, staring at Shepard intently. Shepard raised an eyebrow at her questioningly in return. "You're Commander Shepard, aren't you?"

"Just Shepard." She stuck her hand out automatically; it was hard to remember the social niceties when it came to alien species, so Shepard generally stuck with the standard human varieties and hoped that they translated well.

The waitress scrutinized her for a moment, completely ignoring the offered hand. "I thought you'd be more impressive in person." The statement was spoken with the condescension born of several hundred years of life experience. Then she swiveled her brilliant blue head to the right and walked away.

Shepard stared at her retreating back for a moment. "Wow. I guess I can add unimpressive in person to my list of faults." She gave the asari a distasteful look. "We can probably add poor tipper to the list, at least in her particular case."

"Pfft…" Miranda expelled the air between her teeth and lip, gesticulating towards the asari. "Asari are born cynics. That's practically a declaration of undying love." She took a bite of the meatloaf gingerly, chewing it with a thoughtful look on her face. "I haven't had meatloaf in over a decade. This is better than I expected."

They ate slowly as they talked, slipping into an easy discussion of the crew and the mission. Miranda was a keen observer, especially when it came to Jack, who she had every reason to view in an unfavorable light. Shepard remembered her first impression of Miranda, many months ago on Cerberus station; she wouldn't have mourned the operative's loss then, but now she'd take a bullet for the woman.

_Speaking of the Cerberus station where I was 'reborn'…_ "There is no easy way to bring this up, Miranda, so I'm just going to go ahead and ask." Shepard put down her fork, wiping her mouth delicately with a napkin; playing for time, in short. "So… when you resurrected me, did you restore me to original condition, or factory condition?"

Miranda pushed her plate away. "What do you mean by 'factory condition', Shepard?"

"Well… did you restore me to the state right before I died, or did you take some… creative liberties?"

"Dammit, Shepard." Miranda shook her head in disbelief. "I would think that after our earlier discussion you'd know that you can trust me with anything. Out with it, already."

Shepard sighed with exaggerated drama. "Before Freedom's Progress, you mentioned a control chip that the Illusive Man nixed. Now, I don't believe this of you now, but at that point in time you might have been prone to retaliation." She fidgeted with the saltshaker, staring at it as she moved it around the table. "Doing something like say, re-attaching a hymen, would be an excellent, and difficult to detect, method of payback."

The woman across from her said nothing for a moment. Then, rather suddenly, she began to giggle. Actually giggle, even though giggling was a distinctly un-Miranda thing to do. A few minutes later, Miranda was still going, her shoulders shaking with the effort.

"Are you laughing because this is so ridiculous…?" Shepard was starting to feel a bit ridiculous.

"Shepard…" Miranda managed to squeeze out her name between breaths. "I'm so… glad that we… didn't have… someone… who thought… like… you on the team."

A grin had crept across Shepard's lips as she watched Miranda. "Okay, so it really was a stupid idea."

"It's a brilliant idea." Wiping the moisture from her eyes, Miranda patted Shepard's hand consolingly. "You're right; I would have jumped on it six months ago. It would have made for an interesting first night with Thane, in any case." The operative shook her head. "Sorry. Didn't mean to get that personal."

"No, it's okay." She was blushing a little as she spoke. "Obviously we haven't gotten to that point, or the question would have been answered for me."

The waitress appeared at the table, having crept up on them with the silence of a wraith. She hovered for a moment, and then deposited the check between them, giving Shepard an imperious look. Miranda grabbed the check, over Shepard's protests, and scanned her chit over the bar at the bottom.

"I left her a dollar tip." she commented as they exited the diner, "I figured that it was more insulting than no tip at all."

They headed straight to the Normandy; Tassala wasn't the safest place at normal times, and neither wanted to press their luck more than necessary. Miranda turned to her outside of the docking bay, gripping her arm gently. "I think it's sweet, Shepard, that you and Thane haven't…" The operative cleared her throat and dropped her hand to her side. "You're good for each other."

Shepard held out her hand, then considered for a moment. When Miranda grasped it, she pulled her into a hug. "Thanks, Miranda." She gave the woman's shoulders a gentle squeeze. "Thanks for everything. I won't forget it.

**oOo**

Her dinner date with Miranda had left her wide-awake, though the rest of the ship had apparently decided to bed down. She fed the fish and watched them carefully for a few moments; they had become a gauge for the state of the mission for her over the past several months. As her slippery friends appeared to be doing well, she wandered over to her terminal to check her messages. A message from Thane was in the top of her queue, and she clicked on it eagerly, her lips undoubtedly curved in a goofy smile.

_Siha,_

_I've taken the liberty of examining some of Mordin's recommendations; I've carefully avoided the less savory topics. I believe that this vid might be to your liking. The content is quite visually stimulating, and I believe that you'll find the cinematics to be breathtaking. Perhaps we can schedule a time to compare our notes in the near future?_

_Thane_

It was absolutely ridiculous that an e-mail from him could send her pulse into overdrive. She could imagine the wicked smile on his face as he composed a particular set of sentences. The vid had left an impression, which boded well for it. She clicked on the link at the bottom of his message, which took her to the link in Mordin's original e-mail.

The educational category was bolded, underlined and followed by several exclamation points; apparently Mordin was trying to draw the eye there in the subtlest way possible. Thane's link was called "First Encounters"; kind of an odd title for a human/drell sex education vid, but Thane's recommendation guaranteed that it exceeded expectations.

Clicking the link, she hit a few keys on the keyboard and moved the holo display to the blank wall space beside her desk. Placing her feet on the desktop, she leaned back in her chair to watch. The scene opened on what looked to be a lab, with lots of long white tables, terminals and what looked to be scientific-type equipment at first glance. Shepard grinned; it was obvious why Mordin was partial to this particular "instructional" vid.

The camera focused on a dark haired human female in a white lab coat and glasses, typing away at a terminal. A human male walked by, calling 'Goodnight, Kerry' over his shoulder as he exited the room. Kerry returned his goodnight without looking up from her terminal; she was obviously taking the scientist role very seriously, despite the fact that she was starring in a porn video.

A drell entered from the room adjacent, wearing a similar white lab coat carrying a clipboard and staring at it with an air of studious intensity. He stopped next to human, putting his clipboard down on the table and notating the sheets clipped to it. This was the fifth drell that Shepard had seen in her life, including Thane, Kolyat and the two other drell that she'd found via Fornax. As was the trend, he was completely different in coloring and patterning than the others; she was beginning to think that no two drell were alike, and it was definitely going to be on her list of questions about drell when she got around to asking Thane.

The scientist drell was a medium blue, like the ocean back on Earth, with reddish orange markings on his chin and frill, as well as the ridged top of his head. He had the sculpted lips that seemed to be a feature on every male drell; they were pursed in concentration as he scribbled on his clipboard. The woman shot furtive glances at him as she continued with her typing, until she finally stopped and sighed, rubbing the back of her neck with the palm of her hand.

Smirking a bit, the drell looked over at his co-worker. "Long day, Kerry?" His voice was deep and pleasantly timbered, tinged with a vibration similar to a purr.

She chuckled, blushing a delicate pink as she did. "Very, Talin. Hours more to go waiting on these tests, too." Her hand swept forward, indicating the terminal in front of her.

They made small talk for a little while; the dialogue was surprisingly good for a sex vid. Most of them just launched straight into the action, from Shepard's limited experience. Fornax was obviously trying to distinguish itself from the run of the mill xeno porn that flooded the extranet. Shepard found herself actually liking Kerry and Talin as they fumbled through their all too obvious attraction; it was more than a little endearing.

"Let's take a break." Talin announced finally, leaning forward to take the human female's right hand in his. "There's a couch and a vid screen in the breakroom. These tests will run without us staring at them." When the woman hesitated, he smiled. "I think that we might have some wine left over from the retirement party last week." They moved to the back of the room, entering a doorway to the left. The room had an awfully cushy sofa for a staff lounge, as well as muted coloring and mood lighting.

Talin pulled the wine from the fridge and poured it into two standard kitchen glasses; to the director's credit, the wine looked fairly cheap. They chatted briefly, sipping their wine, until the drell began pull at the collar of his lab coat. "It's a bit stuffy in here, don't you think?" Shepard giggled at this; she couldn't recall Thane ever being fazed by heat, unless it was accompanied by humidity.

The woman stared at him openly as he took off the lab coat. He was wearing what looked like a vest underneath; it was sleeveless and grey, and left little of his magnificent chest to the imagination. His heavily muscled arms were marked with the same vermillion that covered his head, splotched artfully up the lengths of his arms in wavering lines. Her eyes traced these lines up his arms, coming to rest on his smirking lips a moment later. As she flushed and looked away, he reached out a hand to cup her chin, turning her gaze back to him.

"I don't mind if you look, Kerry." He set his glass on the table in front of them, taking one of her hands with his. "I enjoy you looking at me." The deep timbre of his voice lent a seductive quality to the scene.

The human female shuddered slightly at his touch, but she tentatively traced the markings on his hand with her finger. "You're the first drell that I've met." She said, lowering her eyes to look at their joined hands. "Honestly, I've tried not to stare, but it's difficult." Taking a deep breath, she looked him boldly in the eyes. "You're so beautiful…" She flushed again and leaned forward as if to stand. "I need to check on the tests. I should go."

Talin pulled her back down, drawing her closer in the process. His hand, formerly cupping her chin, had now slid around to rest at the base of her neck, touching the dark knot of hair that rested there. "The test will run unattended. This is more important." The fingers of his right hand skimmed across the top of hers, sliding under the edges of the lab coat's sleeve. "I've wanted to touch you for months, Kerry. Working side by side every day has been extremely frustrating for me."

He leaned in, his hand gripping her forearm. "I've never been with a human…" He brushed his lips across hers, once, twice, then pulled back too look at her. There was heat in his gaze, and the woman's lips parted in anticipation. "I'd like you to be my first, Kerry."

The woman glanced around the room nervously. "Talin, are you sure that we're alone?"

"Absolutely." He was already unbuttoning her lab coat, the cheeky bastard.

"I don't know what to do." It was a weak protest, as she was already sliding the lab coat down her arms.

His hands were loosening the chignon at her neck as he answered. "We'll teach each other as we go." He kissed her as he ran his fingers through her freed hair, spilling the waves over her shoulders. Her fingers moved up his arms as their mouths joined, gripping his shoulders tightly before hesitantly reaching up to touch the orange frill under his chin, tentatively stroking the ridged skin.

The drell groaned as their lips parted. "The ridges on a drell's neck are very sensitive. So are the fringes around our ears." The woman dipped her head, trailing her mouth over the underside of his chin and down the front of his neck. His hands gripped her hair, bunching it up in his fists as she licked a trail up to his fringe, nibbling it lightly.

Shepard wriggled uncomfortably in her seat, trying unsuccessfully to divert her eyes from the screen. It was difficult not to imagine the previous evening with Thane, especially as the blue skinned drell on the vid in front of her removed his partner's bra and lavished attention on her bared breasts.

She and Thane had discussed their "situation" yet again that morning. They were nearing the end of their journey now; after Samara and Tali were sorted, they'd move pick up the IFF, then straight on to the Collector Base. They weren't going to have time to properly consummate anything, and they both wanted it to be good. Shepard reached back to her terminal and paused the video; they would view it together, afterwards.

.


	12. If I Ain't Got You

_"In my imagination you're lying waiting on your side, with your hands between your thighs." - 505/Arctic Monkeys_

She saw Thane rarely over the next few weeks. The time was a ceaseless procession of solving others problems, of falling into an exhausted sleep next to him on her sofa. It was both disappointing and expected; they were on a timeline. Each day that they delayed, there was the possibility of another colony being targeted. It was hard to make the argument that her sex life was more important. The sense of urgency was compounded when the Normandy crew was taken, and when every moment could possibly mean a friend's death.

They spent the hours before the Omega 4 Relay in each other's arms, stretched out on her bed and looking through the skylight at the galaxy outside. He told her stories of his childhood before the Compact, of his time with Irikah, of his battle sleep. She told him about Earth, about Mindoir, her family and friends, her time in the Alliance and former lovers. If only one of them returned from this trip, the other would remember for them, would keep a piece of them alive.

"If I don't make it, I want them to erect a monument to me on Mindoir." Her head was resting on his chest, and she could hear his heart thumping. It sounded strong, not the sound of a man slowly dying from a bastard of a disease. Maybe the nanites were working. "It should be big, twice as tall as me at least." She considered for a moment, tracing the patterns of the striping on his chest. "Maybe I should be holding a puppy, or something. Or several baby animals… maybe actual babies. Just a crowd of them in my arms and at my feet." Tilting her head up, she smiled at him. "They should all be looking at me adoringly. Like you are right now, but possibly with less smolder."

His fingers threaded through her hair, and he laughed at her. When he laughed she heard that noise in his lungs, the faint squeaking that made her worry that anything that she did might not be enough. "I hope that you never lose your humor, siha." Propping himself up on an arm, he kissed the top of her head. "I promise that if anything should happen to you, you'll have statues on every inhabited planet."

"Make sure my hair looks good." She propped herself up so that she could look at him. "Like it did at Kasumi's party, maybe. Not like it does when I wake up in the morning."

She felt him lifting a curl up to examine it. "Does it look good now? I'm certainly not an expert on human hair."

"Miranda can help you with that. Or Kasumi. Hopefully Kelly." She considered for a moment. "Probably not Jack. A lot of people are going to have to make it out of this so that I can have my perfect statue."

With his fused fingers, he tilted her chin towards him, kissing her solemnly. "Promise me that you'll live through this." He kissed her again, more deeply.

"Only if you promise me the same, Thane." She was a little bit breathless when they parted, and she hoped that she'd be done with the hallucinations before they passed through the relay. "Maybe I can wrangle you a place next to me on that monument."

Joker interrupted them then. "Commander. ETA fifteen minutes."

"Tell everyone to gear up and meet me in the briefing room, Joker."

Fun time was over, and she was Commander Fucking Shepard again, ready to pull the Normandy crew out of that hellhole and get her team back at any cost. It was like flipping a switch; she was often somewhat ineffectual in her personal relationships, and sometimes too flippant when it came to missions, but when the risk was high she turned tactician without a second thought. Jack referred to it as Shepard's multiple personality disorder, and she was probably the closest thing they had to an expert on crazy.

**-oOo-**

Everything beyond the relay was death, a floating graveyard of debris and lost lives. She had steeled herself for the worst and had gotten it double-fold. No sentient creature could live in this place full of endless, floating horrors. She looked at her team, crowded around her in the small cockpit. They were an odd assortment, but she didn't regret recruiting any of them. With a wave of her arm, she turned towards the airlock. "Let's do this."

The inside of the base was controlled chaos. They broke off into two equal teams, taking two different avenues to the same central location. Jack was a marvel of focused rage, sending shivering balls of biotics in seemingly every direction at once. Thane picked them off as they flew, headshot after headshot calmly delivered from the barrel of his rifle. Shepard's Zeus joined Tali's Chiktikka, bobbing and weaving through the waves of enemies, distracting them and buying them time to open the pressure valves for Legion as he crawled through the vents.

Battle helped to divert her attention from the hulking, hive-like structure of the base, the husks of human corpses, the slurry of remains. The collector ship had given her expectations, but nothing could have prepared her for the tubes, the place where she found the Normandy crew. She was helpless to save the dark haired woman, reduced to nothing more than human juice as she screamed, but she could save the others. They came together again in that moment, her team, her people; she'd never had anything like them before, and she'd be profoundly lucky to have anything approaching it again.

Then they were moving again, shooting, ducking, destroying everything that they came across. The rage inside her was a living thing, she was destruction personified_, _laying waste to everything that stood in her path. She was deadly calm in her mind, like the eye of a storm, watching the creatures fall in her path, even the abomination that they were building from the remains of the thousands of humans captured. Her voice was cold and steady when she told The Illusive Man to fuck off and set the charges to blow up the base.

When she came back to herself, she was on the Normandy and Jacob was bumping her on the arm with his heavy fist. "Goddammit, you did it, Shepard! We did it!" He hugged her roughly, and she was caught up in his boisterous affection, clapping him on the back as hard as she could. "I owe you a drink, as soon as we get back to the Citadel." He was grinning at her, and she couldn't help but grin back. The adrenaline was still pumping through her, and she was finally feeling it.

"I'm gonna hold you to that, Jacob." She scanned the crowded mess, looking for Thane.

Jacob flipped her a wink. "He's over there somewhere." His hand pointed to the other side of the mess, near the hall. "Go enjoy yourself, Shepard. You've earned that shit."

Reaching Thane had turned into an imperative. The need to touch him, to feel the reality of him under her hands was overwhelming. If that led to some further reality confirmation, then all the better for both of them.

The mood was the same nearly everywhere in the room. Discussions were animated, voices were raised, people were happy to be alive. She stopped beside Jack, who was sitting across from Garrus at the long table, her feet propped up in front of her. They were regaling each other with tales of spectacular kills; Jack looked damned near _happy_.

Shepard rubbed the top of Jack's head, something that probably would have gotten her a black eye at any other point in time, and beamed down at her. "You did a fucking fantastic job with the bubble, Jack. Seriously."

Garrus nodded in agreement. "That was damned impressive. I've never seen a biotic erect something that for big... no, that ginormous, for so long."

"You've never gotten me in the sack, Dino." The turian looked like he might blush, if he was capable of it. "Fuck that though, we all kicked ass. Especially you." She poked Shepard hard in her armored chest. "You were like the goddamned elements out there, fire and ice everywhere I looked." Jack took a swig from the small bottle in front of her, and laughed. "Go get laid, Shepard. Vakarian and I are going to sit here and drink until he passes out."

The turian made an indignant sound, but Shepard had moved on already, weaving through the crowded room, patting arms, smiling at everyone. She glanced through the window of the medbay, where Chakwas was hovering over a few poor souls who'd gotten the worst of the tube treatment. Kelly was sitting on a table, her legs drawn up against her chest, looking shell-shocked. She considered detouring into the medbay to check on her yeoman, but Gabby Daniels appeared at her side as she approached the door.

Turning, she caught sight of Thane to her right, in front of the hallway that led to his quarters. He was talking quietly with Samara, head inclined, but he caught her gaze immediately. His black eyes were inscrutable, but he nodded when she pointed in the direction of Life Support. It took her moments to get to the door, but it seemed like forever. Her limbs were tingling and she was jittery with energy, and she needed to touch Thane, to reassure herself that he was still with her.

The doors opened and she stepped into the dimly lit room. Thane was not immediately apparently, but she could hear him keying the door locked behind her a moment after. "You look uncomfortable in that armor." She could feel his hands working at the clasps on her back, and she hastened to help him by attending to her front. He stacked the plating neatly in the corner, then turned to her. Without a word, he kissed her, pressing her back against the wall, sliding his hands into her sweat dampened hair.

His soft lips were insistent on hers, and she parted her own with a small moan, meeting his tongue with hers. He tasted like clean air, like victory, like righteousness. Fumbling along the front of his suit, she felt for the hidden clips under the lining. He had made a point of demonstrating how the top of the suit was removed one evening, but her hormone addled brain was having difficulty remembering.

Frustrated, she slid her hands under his outer coat, pushing it over his shoulders. Thane helped her, moving his hands from her hair, but never breaking the kiss. When the coat fell to the floor, they both came up for air.

She ran her fingers over his face, over the ridges on the top of his head and the frills on the sides of his neck. "I think that I'm going to have to spend the next few days touching you to convince myself that you're really here." She murmured, nipping at his chin and running her tongue along the ridges lining its bottom.

His hands slid under her arms, reaching up behind her neck to catch the zipper there. Pulling it all of the way down, he exposed her back to the cold metal wall behind them. "I'm not sure that I have the stamina to last several days, siha." She pulled back, allowing him to tug the undersuit over her shoulders and down to her waist. _"_But I'll do my best to keep up._" _

Through much searching, she'd finally found the line of clasps holding the front of his suit together, and she slid through them quickly, baring his chest to the palms of her hands. He was cool at the moment, but she could feel his skin warming to her touch. Thane pushed the material down to his waist, then leaned in to kiss the side of her jaw, sliding his own hands over her hips and pulling them flush with his.

She dragged her nails over his shoulders, feeling the small scales that comprised the surface ripple under them. The vids had informed her that drell skin was less sensitive than human skin, and required more direct pressure to stimulate. When she dragged her nails up and over the red ridges on his throat, she could feel the rumbling response, like a soft trill in his throat. It was deep and reverberant, and she found it incredibly sexy.

Thane pushed at the undersuit that clung stubbornly to her hips, pushing it down enough to slide under the hem of her panties. He parted her, stroking her lips, kneading them gently with his fingers, all the while worrying her earlobe with his teeth. She gripped his shoulders in response, moving against his fused fingers as they slid over her, just grazing the sensitive bud at her peak. The adrenaline response in her body had already triggered her endorphins, and the feeling of his rough skin against her clit was driving her close to the edge.

Grasping his chin in both hands, she brought his lips back to hers, maneuvering them backwards as she dipped her tongue into his now warm mouth, running it over the blunt edges of his molars. He murmured a small protest as back of his knee hit the chair where he normally meditated, but she was insistent, slipping her hands to his hips to pull on the tight portion of the bottom half of his suit. His hand slipped from her panties, and she made a small noise of protest.

"Siha," he took one of her hands gently in his, moving it to the middle of his suit, directly below the spot where a belly button would be on a human. "The clasp is here." He placed her hand on it, but allowed her to unfasten it. She could feel the rigid length of him beneath the shiny material, and he groaned when the fabric finally parted, and she pushed it down past his hips.

"Sit." She commanded, pushing him down with one hand, and he complied, his lips grazing her breast on the way down. Kneeling in front of him, she pulled the suit down past his calves, letting him kick it off the ends of his feet. His hands tugged the fabric of her undersuit down while she hastily removed her panties, kicking the pile of clothing to the side and positioning herself on his lap.

He captured a nipple in his mouth, sucking on it through the fabric of her bra as she lowered herself onto him slowly, giving them both a moment to adjust. He was so lovely, so alien, and his penis felt like nothing that she'd ever experienced before. She'd seen the vids, with the wildly orgasmic human women writhing under lovely drell men, and now she knew why. The ridges that lined his member hit every sensitive spot, from outer to inner vaginal wall.

When he moved his hips tentatively, she gasped loudly, her hand fastening to his arm in a claw like grip. "Siha... did I hurt you?" His voice was gentle, and he was completely still, dark eyes focused on hers.

She shook her head, unable to formulate her thoughts for moment. "I..." Shaking her head, she tried to concentrate through the sheer amount of feelings coursing through her at the moment. "I'm fine. Not hurt. I didn't expect it to feel this incredibly... good..." It was the lamest word possible, considering the depth of sensation, but it was all that she could come up with.

His hips moved again under hers, and she sucked in a breath, but he didn't stop this time. She planted her feet on either side of him and moved with him, rolling her hips into his, marveling at the ever growing warmth that was spreading from where they joined to the tips of her limbs. The green of his skin turned into rolling green hills under her, undulating softly. Underneath it all, she could feel her muscles clenching around him, feel the wonderfully pleasant ache building and building in that spot just inside of her, that spot that he kept stroking with the firm ridges of his skin.

Suddenly he was the sea, verdant and flowing beneath her, crashing into the sand that was her shore. Or maybe she was the sea, and he was the waves, rolling over her, faster and faster, like a storm building. It was hard to tell who was what, where he began and she ended, and she leaned into his waves and she was saying things, things about the sea and movement, she had no idea anymore. It was his name that came crashing from her lips when she climaxed, and it was like being struck by lightning, a storm at sea. She tensed against him, felt him twitch inside of her, then she was still, slumping forward to rest her dampened curls on his shoulder.

**-oOo-**

She awoke an indeterminable amount of time later, sprawled on her back in her own bed, the covers crumpled under her like a badly used tissue. Glancing down, she saw that she was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. The last thing that she could remember was stumbling over to Thane's small cot, completely naked, so it was quite obvious that many things had happened since then.

Pushing herself up on her elbows, she maneuvered herself to a sitting position. "EDI, can I get the date and time." The headache started as soon as she opened her mouth, a dull pounding right behind her eyes. When EDI calmly rattled off a date and time some twenty-three hours after her last cognizant thought, she groaned. As if picking up the cue, her stomach grumbled along with her. The time explained why she felt like crap, as she hadn't remembered to eat or properly hydrate after coming back on board.

The door to her cabin swished open just as she was standing, and Thane came in with a huge tray of something that smelled so wonderful that she practically started crying. He set that tray down on the glass table, and gently grabbed her hand when she lunged for a piece of bread. "Drink first." He commanded, handing a glass of pale yellow liquid. "Mordin infused it with electrolytes to combat dehydration." His eyes remained fixed on her until she tentatively started drinking.

The liquid tasted pretty damned good, vaguely like lemonade, and she had to pace herself to keep from guzzling it. Alliance combat training had drilled into her head that all food and drink should be consumed steadily, especially in cases of moderate dehydration or illness. She couldn't afford to lose any more fluids to the nausea that quick drinking would induce. Sitting back, she alternated slowly between the bread and the glass. "I'm sure that Mordin had more to say than just that."

Thane scooted closer to her, leaning back and resting his outstretched arms on the leather backing. "He also scolded me for not bringing you down to the lab immediately after our... tryst." The way that word rolled languorously over his tongue sent a shudder up her spine.

She pointed at him with her piece of bread. "Don't think that your voice thing is going to work on me right now, Thane. You're not getting into these panties again until I've eaten something and taken a damned shower." Stuffing the remainder of the bread in her mouth, she reached for a piece of chicken. "I am actually wearing panties, right?"

He chuckled and leaned forward, picking up an apple. "Miranda and I made sure to dress you in your normal bed clothes."

"Miranda... dressed me?" She nearly choked on the piece of chicken that she was attempting to ingest.

"She aided me in dressing you, yes." Thane shook his head and gestured towards her dresser. "I'm unfamiliar with human underwear, siha, and drell females don't even have breasts." His expression turned thoughtful. "I did quite enjoy watching."

"What..." She sputtered, and his lips spread into a wide grin. "Cute, Thane Krios, very cute." It was difficult not to smile when he was in such a good mood. "I guess I'll have to live with the indignity of being dressed by my second in command. At least Miranda is discreet."

Thirty minutes later, Shepard was having the best shower of her entire life. Thane had graciously agreed to take the leavings of their dinner back to the mess, and she suspected that he was spending extra time on the crew deck to give her much needed personal hygiene time. It really was a shame that he didn't care for humidity, else she would have pulled him in along with her. There were a few things to attend to before they traveled back to the Citadel and gave the crew some much needed shore leave, but she fully intended to spend as much of her spare time as she could getting to know her drell a little more intimately.

After prying herself away from the blissful heat of the water, she spent five minutes brushing, flossing and gargling. Her mouth had probably smelled like the inside of a varren den after that much time, and she hated the feeling of fuzzy teeth. She smoothed some gel into her damp hair, and headed to the comm terminal.

Miranda picked up at the first signal, appearing on her screen looking as flawlessly put together as ever. "Shepard, you're looking well." To her credit, Lawson didn't even smirk when she said this.

"Yeah... I think that I owe you some thanks for that." Shepard tapped the desk with her finger and looked studiously at the keyboard of her terminal.

"You were exhausted Shepard." This time Miranda did give her a grin. "Understandably so." She paused appropriately, then folded her hands in front of her, all business again. " While you were resting, I directed Joker to put us on a course towards the Citadel, after a small stop near Hagalaz, of course."

They had discussed as much right after the Collector mission, and Shepard nodded in approval. "Do you need anything from me, Miranda? It seems like you're holding everything together really well..."

"Grace," Miranda interrupted, "I have everything under control. Spend some time with Thane. You deserve it."

She gave Miranda a half salute "Aye-aye." With a nod, Miranda terminated the connection.

Shepard made a few more calls; to Chakwas to check on the wounded crew, to Tali to check on the engineering deck status, to Joker and EDI to check on the status of the Normandy herself. Her final call was to Mordin, who after several minutes of chastisement informed her that he was sending a few things up to her cabin in Thane's care. "Gels for rash, though Cerberus enhancements appear to handle that well." He squinted at her through the vid screen. "More liquid for re-hydration. Very important, that." The salarian paused for a moment, scrolling through notes on his datapad. "Oh. And pills. For hallucination. Seems to be particularly strong with absorption of drell semen." Her face was burning by the time that she managed to cut him off and make her excuses to end the comm session.

Propping her feet up on the desk, she waited for Thane to come back with the pills. The salarian's "talk" had at least given her some ideas on how to spend the next several hours before reaching Liara. She stood as Thane entered the room, taking his hand in hers. "So," she purred, pulling him towards the sofa, "I think I'm going to need one or two of those pills."

**A/N: Gahhhhh... it's been a long time, I know. Bioware's lack of concern for Thane has kind of renewed my interest in him as a character, so hopefully I'll be able to get some more of this done at some point. Many, many thanks to Katerina Kintari for putting up with reading and re-reading stuff, and being a sounding board, and making me write smut. She has so many wonderful Thane stories, so if you need a fix, look no further. Also thanks to lyssalu (another good Thane writer), Hanar05, IccaRa and LT (or PirateRose here... you should check out her stuff too), and anyone else I can't remember from NSAS. You guys are inspirational, and hella amusing. **

**Many, many apologies to anyone who has reviewed in the past however long who I have not responded to. Some of you brought up some very good points about my language use (esp the Cajun), and I'll be going back to correct it at some point. I will try to get back around to responding to people, as I do appreciate anyone taking the time to tell me what they think. **

**Any errors are mine... yadda, yadda, yadda :). **


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